Federal budget changes not to impact U. aid significantly

While the recently passedincreases to the federal budget for Pell Grant will not significantly affect current University aid programs, theywould allow forgreater academic spending nationwide, according to Director of Governmental Affairs Joyce Rechtschaffen '75.

Rechtschaffen is a former managing editor of the 'Daily Princetonian.'

On Dec. 18, 2015, the Senate passed the The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016that approved a total of $1.8 million budget increases in funding for higher education.These increases include a 2.4% growth in Pell Grants, a 6.7% growth in funds for minority science and engineering improvement, a 7.6% growth in funds to strengthen educational institutions, among other changes.

Rechtschaffenexplained that the Pell Grant, aform of federal discretionary spending, will be bolstered by the recent budget increases. These grants increased 2.4 percent this year alone to $5,915 per recipient. The Pell Grant had been jeopardized by sequestration until Congress voted to raise the budget caps for two years, according to Rechtschaffen.

Rechtschaffenexplained that increases in the Pell Grant's budget, though important and significant for higher education nationwide, will not have a tremendous impact on this campusbecause the University’s aid programs consist only of grants awarded directly to students.

She noted that 17 percent of the Class of 2019 received Pell Grants, and that the University’s average grant to the class of 2019 was $48,600 per year.

“We are in a pretty unique position at Princeton... Our financial aid is not found in very many or any other places, if you look at affordability,” Rechtschaffensaid.

David Lopera ’19, aPell Grant recipient, said that he doesn’t think the budget change in Pell Grants will significantly impact campus culture.

“If you get in to a school like Princeton, they make sure you can go,” Lopera said.

Rechtschaffen explained that Princeton is one of the most affordable schools according to multiple college rankings.

“Our financial aid budget dwarfs that [of the Pell Grant],” Rechtschaffensaid. “The total scholarship budget for coming year is close to $141 million while the Pell Grants will number $3.3 million in aid to Princeton students.”

However, Rechtschaffen said the budget increase will allow for greater spending on funding for research at the Unviersity as well as increasing access to higher education for low-income students nationwide.

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University faculty can also expect better researching funding following these budget improvements, according to Dean of Research Pablo Debenedetti.

Debenedetti noted that the National Institute of Health, a government agency from which the University receives substantial research funding, was under budgetary caps in recent years. This restraint created a “hyper competitive environment” in which NIH only funded 15 percent of all research proposals after a rigorous evaluation process, he said.

According to Debenedetti, the University spends roughly $200 million in sponsored research each year. In the 2015 fiscal year,about 5 to 6 percent of funding for this spending came from industry support of University research while about11 percent came from foundational support.Debenedetti explained that the remainder is supported by government agencies. He said that this breakdown in research sponsorship is comparable to peer research institutions.

The government agencies funding “is the backbone of U.S. research enterprise,” he said.

“Since the end of World War II, we’ve had a model where the federal government has provided most of the research funding. It has been a spectacularly successful model – the societal benefits have been enormous,” he added.

Rechtschaffenalso noted that increases in funding to certain agencies have specific impacts for Princeton. For example, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, which studies fusion energy, is sponsored the U.S. Department of Energy and may anticipate an increase in funding.

The University also has internal competitions for research among faculty which provide roughly a million dollars of funding each year, according to Debenedetti. While the proposals are typically shorter than those submitted to government agencies, they are subject to anonymous peer review by University faculty. For example, the University most recently funded research on 3-D footage of nematode brains that link neurons with motion and behavior.

Debenedetti explained that faculty members conducting research in the humanities are less dependent on federal spending, while graduate students in those fields are mainly supported by the University.

The Act also increased funding for federal college access programs such as TRIO and GEAR UP dedicated to aiding physically and socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals in higher education.

Pell Grants have increased 25 percent during President Barack Obama’s time in office. Other initiatives like federal work-study and Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants remained steady in funding. The American Opportunity Tax Credit, which includes up to $2,500 tax credit per a student for college-related expenses such as books, was also made permanent alongside the budget.