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                    NAGPS President's Legislative Update
                       12:30 pm, Friday, July 25, 1997

CALL TO ACTION!

   * Call your Congressional representatives and ask them to support
     addition of funds for GAANN/Javits Graduate Fellowships, and funding
     for the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) program, the ONLY Federal
     grant program available to graduate and professional students.

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS PASSES EDUCATION SPENDING BILL: JAVITS FARE WELL, SSIG
ELIMINATED

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of a
Fiscal Year 1998 (FY98) Appropriations Bill for Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education programs. The bill appropriates $8.557 billion in
student financial assistance, including $6.9 billion in Pell Grants, enough
to raise the maximum grant by $300 to a total of $3000 per student per year.
The Appropriations Bill now goes to the full Senate for approval next
Tuesday, July 29, 1997.

The two programs of interest to graduate students met with mixed results in
the Senate, similar to their fate in the companion House bill which was
passed on Tuesday. The Senate Appropriations bill funds continuing Graduate
Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) and Javits Graduate Fellowships
as one line item for $30 million. This provides enough funding for
continuation of all previously awarded fellowships, and some Committee
debate centered on additional appropriations to these fellowships to provide
for new awards. With both the House and the Senate bills containing this
level of Appropriations, we expect that any final legislation will contain
at least enough funding to provide for continuing awards.

The single Federal grant program available to graduate and professional
students, the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) program, did not receive
any funding in the Senate bill. Both the President and the House
Appropriations Committee have proposed to eliminate funding for this
program, which provides federal matching funds to states for state grant
programs that help students. Last year, SSIG's $50 million federal
contribution leveraged an additional $50 million in state grant aid for
students, and without the federal contribution, we fear that this grant aid
will be lost, ultimately to be replaced by student borrowing. Needless to
say, NAGPS believes this is a step in the wrong direction, away from making
college more affordable for all students. With neither the House nor the
Senate appropriators offering funding, the future for SSIG looks bleak.

Appropriations to Student Financial Assistance Programs in the Labor, HHS,
and Education Appropriations Bills include: (values are millions of dollars)

                          Final      Final               House     Senate
                           FY96      FY97    Pres FY98   FY98       FY98

 Pell Grants               4914.0     5919.0    7635.0    7438.0     6905.7
       Max Award             2470       2700      3000      3000       3000
 Supplement Grants
 (FSEOG)                    583.4      583.4     583.4     583.4      634.0
 Work Study                 616.5      830.0     857.0     860.0      830.0
 Perkins Loans
 (Capital)                   93.3      158.0     158.0     135.0      158.0
 State Incentive Grants
 (SSIG)                      31.4       50.0       0.0       0.0        0.0

 Areas of National Need
 (GAANN)                     27.3      24.1*     24.1*     24.1*      24.1*
 Javits Fellowships           5.9       5.9*      5.9*      5.9*       5.9*
 Harris Fellowships           0.0        0.0       0.0       0.0        0.0

 Total Student
 Assistance                6271.8     7570.4    9263.4    9046.4     8557.7

* One combined $30.0 allocation for GAANN Fellowships which includes Javits
continuation funds

Both the House and Senate bills now move to the full body for passage, with
differences to be negotiated in a Conference Committee. One significant
difference between the two bills is that the House bill provides an
additional $500 million in Pell Grant funds for independent undergraduate
students, subject to authorization later this summer. We expect that
Congress will try to pass an Appropriations bill of some kind before the
August recess, so we expect floor votes to occur on these bills early next
week.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Call your Senator and Representative today and express support for a Labor,
Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill that contains
the following:

   * New funding for GAANN and Javits Fellowships above the $30 million
     currently proposed
   * $50 million in funding for the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG)
     program

Stress that these two programs are the ONLY grant/fellowship programs that
support graduate and professional education: while $1 billion new dollars
are being added to support undergraduate grant aid, the only source of
graduate and professional student grant aid is being eliminated, and no new
fellowships are being provided. Ask them to offer floor amendments which
would preserve and extend these important programs! Call the House
switchboard at 202-225-3121 or the Senate switchboard at 202-224-3121, and
ask to be connected to the office of your choice. You can also dial the
following toll-free number: 1-800-723-5246.

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Send comments on these legislative updates to Bryan Hannegan, NAGPS
President at president@nagps.org. Find the latest hyperlinked version of
these updates at http://www.nagps.org/NAGPS/bod/Prez/legis_update.htm
complete with links to fact sheets, talking points, and electronic mail
addresses!

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