Programs essential to most college – and university-bound students are under pressure because of the impending sequester making higher education increasingly difficult for some — especially those who have to attain it without assistance from family or friends.
The organization, Information for Financial
Aid Professionals (IFAP), released a guidance booklet March 1st, in preparation of whatever scenario the sequester doles out to Americans. According to a release by the agency, Americans can expect a few things. For one, the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA) exempts the Pell Grant Program from any sequester action. This is good news to the more than eight million Americans that rely on that specific funding to finance their education. And while federal work-study and federal supplemental educational opportunity grants are funded for now, that doesn’t mean that those programs won’t be affected in the future.The 2013 to 2014 award year could see a reduction of approximately $86 million to federal work-study and the FSEOG. In terms of loans, the sequester doesn’t change the basic arrangements that many people have laid out with their lenders, but it can increase certain loan fees during the life of the loan that weren’t explicitly laid out in the initial agreement.
For more specifics on the impact of the sequester on higher education, head to the IFAP site.