PHEAA Aid Cut Again

State grants for college students may drop by as much as 500 dollars next year, due to increased demand and budget cuts.
This year’s budget cuts funding for Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency student grants by 15 million dollars. That’s a reduction of about four percent.
PHEAA chairman Bill Adolph, who also serves as Republican Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, says that means less money for students.

"It’s going to result in anywhere from a 300 to maybe a 400 dollar decrease, based on the lack of funding. And then another hundred dollars, based on the number of students who will qualify for this."

This past academic year the grants were cut by an average of $68.
Adolph says applications shot up from 177,000 to 188,000 this year.
Right now, a PHEAA grant can range anywhere from $1,400 to $4,100, for a student at a four-year private college.
Grants for students at State-Related and State-System schools are typically lower.
The amount varies, based on a family’s income.