Holt comes to MCC to push for year-round Pell grants Pell grant money would help nontraditional students, Holt says BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer EDISON - Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) came to Middlesex County College on Monday to urge Congress to pass the College Cost Reduction Act, which would give students access to year-round Pell grants. "It really is a simple message," Holt told members of the college community during a press conference. "We have taken some steps in Congress to make higher education more affordable. There are a number of things we still have to do." Holt said that Pell grants were the basic unit of financial aid most students receive and they are often used as a yardstick to measure how much other financial aid a student requires. But Pell grants have lost some footing in the decades since their inception, buying less and less education each year and not adapting to the needs of nontraditional students who are making up more and more of the college rolls each year. Holt said the House of Representatives has passed the measure that would give students access to Pell grants for three semesters as opposed to the usual two. Pell grants are currently not available for students studying in the summer sessions at state colleges, and many nontraditional students take summer courses to help complete their education more quickly. "There are a number of students who don't fit the mold of what was cast when the Pell grants began decades ago," Holt said. Holt wants to see the Pell grant program not just extended to the summer sessions but the dollar amounts increased to cover a higher percentage of skyrocketing higher education costs as well as be available to more people. "The whole point is to have a better-educated American populace," Holt said. Holt said he would like to see certain exclusionary criteria for receiving Pell grants removed, such as incorporating the Earned Income Tax Credit into the calculations for Pell grants, in order to make more students eligible for the program. When Pell grants were first instituted, they covered nearly 80 percent of tuition for those who qualified. Now, he said, that number is somewhere around 40 percent. Julian Bonilla is a 21-year-old MCC student who relies on Pell grants to get an education. He came from Colombia five years ago, works full time and is working toward a computer science degree part time. He hopes to one day go to Rutgers University. "I want to achieve my goals to the fullest potential," Bonilla said, "and the Pell grant helps me reach my dreams." Bonilla currently receives $2,600 per year in Pell grants, which covers most if not all of his community college education. However, even if he received the full $4,500 per semester available under the program, it would likely cover only one-third of the cost of Rutgers. The House of Representatives passed the College Cost Reduction Act with the Pell grant provisions intact; however, the U.S. Senate version of the bill does not have that provision. Holt said he would like to see the provision included in the House/Senate Conference Committee version of the bill for the whole Congress to vote on this September. He also urged President George W. Bush to sign the measure.