Financial help is needed for students to study properly

Financial

The authors of the article[CF1] , Sandy Baum, Kristin Conklin, and Nate Johnson[CF2] , argue that the majority
of the students funded by the Pell Grant Program cannot rely wholly on the amount received. The Pell Grant is a program set up up to help low income students pay their college tuition fee, and is set up by the federal government. The authors also
offer some solutions to the problem, which can help reduce the burden of paying the extra amount by students. The article ‘Stop Penalizing Poor Students’ describes the financial challenges that poor students, who are pursuing higher education go through due to the low funding they receive from the support program. The flaws of this program are found in its basic design, as it does not make it easy it makes it harder to graduate on time.  According to the article, the amount given
only caters for 12 credit hours instead of the 15 to 16 hours offered why many universities. The program does not meet its obligations, as finds it provides for some students is not always enough to cater for a full degree in many universities and colleges. The Pell Grant needs to be revised and shape to match the needs of current time.[CF3]

As the Pell Grant Program was designed in 1972, the designers of this grant thought it would cover the full credit hours. This
was because 12 hours were the minimum requirement to graduate, and many colleges still only need 12 credit hours per term to graduate.[CF4]  A number of private universities and colleges have fixed amount of fees supposed to cater for a whole term, in which the charges are for 12 credit hours.[CF5]  The government needs to understand this, and readjust the Pell Grant Program accordingly. A survey [CF6] shows that 35-50% of some universities [CF7] under the flagship program
charge a fixed amount for a full degree program. The amount set in 1972 can only pay for 12 credit hours only, but many institutions offer up to 16 credit hours for a complete degree course, which calls for extra payments from the students. This is where things fall apart for the students, as they do not have enough money to cover all the courses to graduate.[CF8]

For students to receive the extra hours required by the university or college, they have to pay some extra amount for each additional cost. The program does not guarantee a full-time scholarship for needy students as its mandate states. Many students struggle to pay the extra cost to attain their degrees and graduate on schedule. The assumption was that all the universities would offer 12 credit hours for a full degree course, which is not true as different institutions of higher learning have different schedules. These institutions charge fees depending on the credit hours required for each course according to a survey of community colleges and some private universities. Another survey revealed that about three-quarters of the students benefiting from the Pell grant program are in community colleges, other non-selected institutions, and vocational colleges, which charge per credit hour.
It could have been possible if the fee was fixed, but as different courses have different fee structures, they grant is not of much help in the end.[CF9]

The Grant is a help to students in community colleges as they pay less than what the Pell Grant offers, so they get a refund, which help them solve some of their financial problems. The problem is the refund for those taking 15 is smaller than for those taking 12 hours. If the congress is really fixated on helping these kids who come from a low income background  they need to make some drastic changes [CF10] that have been long called for. In order to help the low-income students attain their degrees, the Congress[CF11]  should increase the funding for any students taking more than 12 credit hours regardless of the university or college he/ she attends. The program should base their funding on the hours and pay for each credit hour
as per the institutions’ policies and not on a flat rate as many universities have different rates. The Congress through consultation with the universities and colleges should review the funding scheme and come up with a better solution for the additional hours. Advice to the institutions that charge per credit hour is important to make them see the need to charge on a flat rate for the 15 to the 16 units required for full time. Pell grant should not forget to fund the part-time students to complete their degrees in addition to funding students with more credit hours. There is not exactly any sense of equality in many ways, and it is time they acknowledge that. Any student who takes 12 credit hours per term in a community college ends up getting $1622.50 dollars back at the end, and students that take 15 credit hours per term get $300 less.
This encourages them to go in the wrong direction, as there should be a separate category for students who take 12 credit hours per term, and a separate one for the ones who take 15 credit hours. If the congress looks into this matter they will see how these suggestions will help create a better solution for students with low income.

By adjusting the funding they will be helping low income student, as their mandate promise. In addition to that the suggested adjustment will help all kinds of students not only the ones they take 15 credit hour courses. As they need to understand that many part time students are adults with other responsibilities, and they deserve the grant as much as any full time student.
These suggestions will not remove all the barriers, but it is a good place to start. If the government keeps working on this grant a little at a time, all the barriers will soon be removed.

Hassan,

There seems to be some confusion on what it is you’re supposed to do within this paper.  You are not to agree or disagree with the authors arguments.  Rather, you need to examine why readers would agree or disagree with the authors?  What makes them convincing or not convincing?
How well do the authors use their sources?  Are they qualified to discuss this issue?  Do the authors miss any opportunities within the article, like addressing the cost of schooling itself?  You need to tackle the credibility of the authors and the quality of their article.  What you have now is a mix between a summary and a paper in which you just agree with what the authors have to say; you need to show why the authors are worth agreeing with?  Pick some points from the article in which the authors make an argument and then examine their use of evidence.  Make sure to properly cite the article, both with in-text citations and in a works cited page at the end of the article (see
chapter 50, “MLA,” in the field guide for help).

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[CF1]The name of the article should go here.

[CF2]What are their qualifications?

[CF3]Where is your thesis?  Are the authors convincing?  Remember, you need to talk about the article, not the Pell Grant Program.

[CF4]Why do the authors state this?
Does this help their argument or hinder it?

[CF5]I think you’re a little confused here.  When the authors talk about private colleges and universities, all they are saying is that they charge the same rate every quarter/semester.  Where at community
colleges, the rate can change from quarter/semester to quarter/semester.  Since the rates change, that makes it harder for Pell Grant recipients to have enough money every term.  Basically, the authors are arguing that private colleges and universities do things better than community colleges when it comes to charging students.

[CF6]How effective is the authors’ use of this survey?  What do we know about the survey?  Can we trust its results.

[CF7]Do the authors state what universities?  If they don not tell us which universities do this, does that lack of information hurt their arguments?

[CF8]What are the authors trying to do here?  What are they trying to get their audience to think?

[CF9]Basically, you are repeating what the article says.  What you need to do is examine key parts to see how strong the authors’ arguments are.
For instance, what is the purpose of the authors comparing private
colleges and universities to community colleges in the first place?  How well do the authors use the surveys they
speak of? Is there anything missing, such as citing their sources.  You need to look at this article and see if
there are any flaws in it – point those out.  Or, point out what the strengths of the article are.

[CF10]Do the authors offer up any suggestions for what needs to change?  If so, what are they and how do
these suggestions help/hinder their argument?
If not, does a lack of suggestions hurt their argument?  In what way(s)?

[CF11]Is Congress the only people the authors should be reaching out to?  What about Community Colleges themselves?  Couldn’t community colleges change their practices concerning how they charge students and how much they charge?  Do the authors miss an opportunity here in not addressing changes that should be made within the
schools themselves?