Some community colleges could lose their rescue buoy under the “great beautiful bill”

Hundreds of thousands of community students may lose financial assistance under the proposed “Big Beau Bill, ” which would tighten the conditions of eligibility for the Pell subsidies.

Students would be required to register full time to maintain eligibility for subsidized subsidies by the federal government which serve as a financial rescue for many low and average income students.

The bill would increase the number of hours of credit that students must take each semester from 12 to 15 and could erase those who work, parent, suffer from financial distress or find it difficult to increase their price charges, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.

More than 10 million people are registered in community colleges in the United States. Students who frequent four -year colleges can also request Pell subsidies, but community colleges are often a gateway in the higher education pipeline for low and average income students.

“I have no other options,” said Lakina Mabins, 41, a mother of five who worked two jobs before becoming a major promotion major in Kennedy King College in Chicago. “I couldn’t take out a loan if I wanted it because you have to have a good credit.”

Students can receive between $ 740 and $ 7,395 per year from the Pell Grant program, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.

It costs an average of $ 4,050 per year to attend a community college, while average tuition fees over four years in a public university are $ 11,610 per year, the association said.

Strict restrictions on the eligibility for Pell subsidies are part of a budget bill of the congress advanced by the Republicans and aimed at reducing taxes and public spending.

The Republicans of the Chamber approved their version of the bill in May, and it is now examined by the Senate.

Student Maria Baez, who frequents the Community College of Philadelphia, said that she should probably abandon school if the bill becomes law because she could not afford it.

She said that she had received about $ 3,600 as part of the PEL Last Pell Grease Program.

“I don’t even have a backup plan,” said Baez, 41, who wants to have a small marketing business one day. “But I want my studies so much further so that I can have a career.”

Hundreds of thousands of students could risk losing their subsidies if the Big Beautiful Bill Act is approved, said Martha Parham, spokesperson for the American Association of Community Colleges.

Many students are unable to frequent full-time college because they have other responsibilities, she said.

“Community colleges are the middle class ramp,” said Parham, but costs can represent a strong barrier.

The first subsidies were awarded in 1973; The program was then appointed for the late Senator Claiborne Pell, Dr.I.

The Big Beautiful Bill would also remove subsidized federal loans, which would oblige borrowers in college to accumulate more debts.

“It will be extremely difficult for people to withdraw from these changes,” said Astra Taylor, co-founder of The Debt Collective, an organization that helps people Fighting debt, told CNBC.

Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., Chairman of the Senate, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which plays a key role in writing the Senate bill version, was not available to comment this week, said his office.

Cassidy said the entire Big Beautiful Bill saved around $ 300 billion in public spending and lift the burden from taxpayers who subsidize loan payments from university graduates.

But student Michael Weaver, 34, who frequents the Stanly Community College in Albemarle, in North Carolina, on a Pell subsidy, said that part of the call for the attendance of a two -year college is to take courses at your own pace.

“It is a bit exaggerated for most of the students, and to be honest, the majority of students who receive the grant are workers who only have the possibility of frequenting part -time school,” said Weaver.

Mabins, who plans to frequent the National University of Louis in downtown Chicago this fall, considers herself as a low-income student because she lives in social housing and is registered in the additional nutritional aid program, commonly known as food coupons.

“The government wants me to be without help, but they create more debts and make me more difficult for me to improve myself,” she said. “I have objectives, and in the next five years, I see myself with a master’s degree and I work in my career field.”