UNCF Urges House Members to Vote Against Reconciliation Package

Bill would reduce the avenues to higher education for HBCU students

This week, the House Education and Workforce Committee released their portion of the House Republican reconciliation bill.   As it passed committee, this bill would make higher education more expensive, dramatically limit and reduce those eligible for Pell Grants for students attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), restrict financial aid at a time when it should be expanded, and lower loan limits without any consideration of how many students finance their education. UNCF urges all House members, Republican and Democrat, to vote against the bill.

“I have been closely involved with the Congress for decades now, and I have never seen any reconciliation package target higher education—and the ability of the underserved to access it—like this legislation does,” says Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO of UNCF.  “For historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and the students we serve, this is a non-starter.  This is a bill we cannot support, and we must fight against it.”

“To advance this package, one day after releasing it, and the week after President Trump’s executive order benefitting HBCUs seems as if the Republican majority is not in lockstep with the White House,” said Lodriguez V. Murray, senior vice president for public policy and government affairs, UNCF. “Budgets should not be cut, and savings should not be achieved, at the risk of closing the doors of higher education. To reduce the maximum Pell Grant when we should be doubling it, reduce the number of students eligible for Pell Grants, increase the number of credit hours necessary for Pell without consideration for students who work their way through college, and to impose risk sharing on colleges who cannot force students to make student loan payments in an increasingly uneasy economy just seems as if those who wrote this bill are out of touch with reality.

“The HBCU community was devastated 15 years ago when changes were made to the Parent PLUS Loan program, reducing our enrollment collectively from 330,000 students to 280,000 students,” continued Murray.  “This proposal stands to do more harm than that at exactly the precise time when HBCUs are exceeding national trends by enrolling more 18–22-year-olds while other colleges and universities see their numbers dipping.  The impact of eliminating subsidized loans and Parent PLUS loans could see many HBCUs lose one-third of all federal aid to their students—with just these two programs alone! The collateral damage could be much higher since many subsidized loan applicants and Parent PLUS loan recipients are also Pell eligible.  These consequences would have been unimaginable just two weeks ago, and no House member in good conscious can support this bill.”

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About UNCF

UNCF is one of the nation’s largest and most effective supporters of higher education and serves as a leading advocate for college-bound students. Since its founding in 1944, UNCF has raised more than $6 billion to support students’ access to higher education, provide scholarships and strengthen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Each year, UNCF supports more than 50,000 students at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country including 37 UNCF-member HBCUs. Through its efforts, UNCF has helped generations of students to get to and through college. We believe a college education plays a vital role in fortifying the pipeline of leaders and professionals who contribute to the advancement of our society. Our logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and our widely recognized trademark is, ‟A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”^® Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on Instagram.