AAU President Robert Berdahl thanks the President for his leadership and efforts to sustain strong federal investments in scientific research and student aid, particularly in maintaining the Pell Grant maximum award, in the final FY11 spending measure.

 The Student Aid Alliance, a group of organizations and institutions in which AAU participates, wrote to all Members of Congress on February 14 urging them to vote against the FY11 continuing resolution (H.R. 1) because it would make drastic cuts to student aid programs. 

Dear Representative: As you prepare to vote on the FY 2011 Year-Long Funding Act (the Continuing Resolution [CR]), please consider the millions of students who would not be able to pursue their higher education dreams without federal student aid.

 Dear Representative: As you prepare to vote on the FY 2011 Year-Long Funding Act (the Continuing Resolution [CR]), please consider the millions of students who would not be able to pursue their higher education dreams without federal student aid.

Without the partnership between the federal government, states, institutions and families, millions of students would not be able to go to college. In our FY 2011 appropriations requewe call on Congress to continue its bipartisan support of the federal student aid programs – which combine grant, work-study, and loan programs to enable low-income students to succeeSince the onset of the economic downturn two years ago, college enrollment has surgedfederal student aid applications have increased by almost 20 percent. We believe these appropriated student aid programs are critical

Dear Representative: On behalf of the higher education institutions and associations listed below, we write to alert you
to pending emergency in the Pell Grant program, and to ask your support in resolving it.

The nation’s unique system of combining graduate education with cutting-edge research is a core strength of the American innovation system and continued U.S. economic competitiveness. In addition to graduate student research assistantships funded by federal research grants, several federal agencies support top graduate students through graduate fellowship and traineeship programs. A strong federal commitment to graduate STEM education is especially critical to preparing the next generation of highly skilled scientists and engineers. AAU supports the following funding levels for select graduate education programs in FY11:

Specifically, AAU urges Congress to appropriate $153.8 million for Title VI programs, $19.8 million for the Fulbright-Hays Program, and $3.2 million for the Institute of International Public Policy. The FY11 Department of Education budget would flat-fund these programs.

AAU supports a maximum Pell Grant of $5,550 in FY11. AAU also encourages Congress to provide $4.3 billion for other federal student aid programs in FY11, including: Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $1 billion; Perkins Loans Capital $300 million; Perkins Loan Cancellations $125 million; Federal Work-Study $1.28 billion; LEAP $200 million; TRIO $1 billion; and GEAR UP $400 million.