Pell Grants boost student success

By Mick Starcevich

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"The government needs to focus on programs that really work.”

Those are the kind of sentiments you hear a lot these days, related to public-sector duties at the local, state and national levels. It's hard to disagree with that basic logic, especially in our challenging economic times. For that very reason, Kirkwood Community College and colleges across the United States are greatly concerned that a key tool for educational success is being jeopardized by threats of decreased funding: the Federal Pell Grant.

Since 1973, this educational grant has been a learning lifeline for millions of Americans. Study after study shows Pell Grant aid is the difference between staying in school and falling behind. The Pell support has built-in incentives to keep students enrolled, engaged and working toward their learning goals. Far from a “free ride,” Pell awardees have to maintain grades and course loads to continue receiving that support.

When we hear discussions about cutting this vital program, educators are utterly amazed when our nation is struggling to lift itself out of the worst financial crisis in three generations. When jobs are proclaimed as a top priority at the speaker's podium, politicians need to know how vital this federal support is to education and training.

This is especially true of the cuts proposed for year-round Pell Grants. When Iowa reeled from the 2008-09 recession, the effects could not have been clearer at Kirkwood. We saw enrollments of students aged 25 and above increase by 33 percent from the fall of 2008 to fall of 2009. We know by talking with those students that they lost jobs and had to rethink the rest of their lives on the fly. For many of them, summer school was vital to their new career choices and supporting their families.

The summer Pell Grant aid had a very positive impact on our students. Summer full-time enrollment increased by 41 percent. Students progressed toward their degrees at a faster pace. We also took advantage of increased class scheduling in the summer, making the college more efficient. Again, summer Pell support was a positive step with many winners.

In the 2009-10 academic year, 7,250 Kirkwood students received Pell Grant support, at an average $3,310 per student. Those grants were the difference between learning and languishing without hope or direction. These grants also are crucial to help some of our most financially vulnerable students avoid greater levels of student loan debt. Iowa college students already have some of the highest debt loads in America. Every dollar kept out of debt is a dollar that can be invested in a home, family needs and our local economy.

Pell Grant aid is the bridge between a student's undereducated, underemployed past and brighter career choices. We see that every day at Kirkwood. Hundreds of our recent grads are in new careers they never imagined a few years ago, before the tides of economic disaster swept over their lives. Many others are in their final weeks of study to earn their associate's degrees. By this fall, they will be in new jobs or transferred to our partner four-year colleges, pursuing their goals and dreams.

That is what we do at the core of Kirkwood's mission.

As America was being born more than two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote: “Let us in education dream of an aristocracy of achievement arising out of a democracy of opportunity.”

Today, our nation can make one of its surest investments in the future when we encourage education and training to those who need it most, who benefit most and are motivated the most from vital support. That is what Pell Grants do.

We implore our leaders to see those facts and keep our work force and our nation's future on an upward path.

Mick Starcevich is president of Kirkwood Community College of Cedar Rapids. Comments: Mick.Starcevich@kirkwood.edu