Thousands of ISU students may lose a significant portion of their federal aid money next year.

A congressional report released in July stated the nation’s largest federal grant program, the Pell Grant, will give $270 million less to students across the nation, causing 84,000 students to lose their eligibility for next year.

In the face of skyrocketing tuition rates and reduced state funding for higher education, the announcement came as bad news to Brent Armel, freshman in pre-architecture.

Armel pays for his tuition with almost no financial help from his parents. He covers his university costs through a combination of loans and working 20 hours a week at Target.

“If I don’t get a Pell Grant I won’t be able to go to school here,” he said. “I’ll have to transfer to somewhere more affordable, like Northeastern Iowa Community College, which is near my hometown.

“Working more hours to pay for school isn’t reasonable for me right now,” he added.

The reduction of Pell Grant funding came as a result of a change in the Federal Needs Analysis Methodology, which uses a formula to determine how much financial aid families receive from the government.

The tax tables, which haven’t been updated in a decade, are considered by some to be a poor representation of a family’s ability to pay for college. The data the tables contain is at least three years old and reflects a considerably brighter economy than families today face.

More than 5,000 ISU students receive the Pell Grant, which awards a maximum of $4,000 a year and doesn’t need to be repaid. They are awarded to undergraduate students who haven’t yet earned their bachelor’s degree.

Roberta Johnson, associate director of financial aid, explained the amount of money a student can receive from the Pell Grant is represented by a line graph, with poorer students at the top of the line earning a maximum of $4,000 a year.

With the new tax brackets in effect, nearly all students will slide down the line, she said.

The smaller pool of Pell Grant money will force many students to look for other sources of tuition money. Johnson said students will likely look for money in the four traditional areas of financial aid: grants, scholarships, loans and job money.

During the 2001—02 school year, ISU students took out 116.5 million dollars in loans.

During that same year, there were 5,200 students who received Pell Grants, amounting to 11.8 million dollars.

“The new tax bracket will hit students across the board. It will affect everyone who’s eligible because the money amount will change,” she said.

“With tax bracket changes, the family contribution will be larger and students will move to a different place on the Pell Grant matrix,” she said.

Armel said the lack of Pell Grants coupled with the rise in tuition will create problems for Iowa State in the near future.

“The main reason people come to schools like Iowa State is because they’re cheaper than private colleges,” he said. “But if these increases continue, that won’t be the case.

“Taking away Pell Grants will only make the situation worse.”

—Daily Staff Writer Emily Oliver contributed to this article.