Federal Pell Grant | Rep. Steny Hoyer And First Generation Alumni Praise Pell Grant Program
Lonnie Moore, a Morgan State University graduate, is a sales team leader for IBM . Tiwana Smith, a graduate of Maryland Eastern Shore University, is a probation officer in Raleigh, N.C.
Tiara Matthews and Alonzo Washington are graduates of the University of Maryland . Matthews works at a juvenile detention center in Prince George’s County and Washington is chief of staff for District 2 County Council member Will Campos.
All of these Laurel natives, who achieved their college degrees with financial assistance from the federal Pell Grant Program, participated in a round-table discussion on the program with House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer at the Laurel Library Sept. 26. The needs-based Pell program provides up to $5,500 per a student a year to college students.
Some Republican House members wanted to reduce the amount by nearly $1,000 this year, but that effort was unsuccessful. Although the funding amount for Pell Grants will increase to a maximum of $6,000 per student next year, the future of the program is not guaranteed in these uncertain economic times.
“I’m very concerned that the value of the Pell Grant Program be recognized because … with students and families struggling under rising tuition costs, Pell Grants help make college and job training possible for millions of Americans,” Hoyer said.
According to federal statistics, 5.4 million college students receive Pell Grants annually, and although most recipients need to secure additional financing, the Laurel Pell Grant recipients told Hoyer that the money made a major difference in their lives.
“I come from a poor family, and my mother only made $24,000 a year,” Tiwana Smith said. “If not for this program, I wouldn’t have been able to go to college or graduate.”
Alonzo Washington, who grew up in a single-parent household on public assistance, told Hoyer that many high school students don’t see college as an option because they are unaware that financial assistance, such as a Pell Grant, exists.
“This program changed my life, and I don’t know where I’d be and others would be without it,” Washington said.
Leading students to college
Washington and the other former Pell Grant recipients told Hoyer that they learned of the Pell Grant Program through their participation in the Laurel-based First Generation College Bound, a nonprofit organization that provides support and mentoring to high school students who normally might not attend college.
First Generation’s founder and director is Laurel resident Joseph Fisher, who received the Closing the Gap Award from the Maryland State Teacher’s Association this year for his work.
Fisher arranged for the First Generation alumni to speak with Hoyer, whose district includes Laurel, about the Pell program’s benefits to them and the need for it to continue. Fisher’s latest figures show that the FGCB students who graduated in 2011 received nearly $235,000 in Pell Grant funds to attend college.
“Most of our kids are low to moderate income and 98 percent depend on Pell Grants, so we’re very dependent on Pell Grants,” said Fisher. “Without Pell Grants, many of our students wouldn’t have been able to go to college. If not for Pell Grants, I wouldn’t have been able to leave Southeast (Washington) to go to college.
“It’s important that the public understand that we’re getting a good return on this
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