Many ISU students receiving federal financial aid don’t have to give up on their Pell Grants yet, following the U.S. Senate’s approval on Sept. 10 of an amendment that restores cuts in student aid.

The amendment, penned by Sen. Jon Corzine, D-New Jersey, passed by a 51—44 Senate vote. The amendment blocks proposed changes to tax tables, which would have resulted in 84,000 students nationwide losing their Pell Grants entirely and thousands of students partially losing their financial aid.

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin voted “yes” on the amendment, which was a provision in a spending bill for labor, health and education programs.

“Harkin supported the reversal because he realized Pell Grants are the most effective and important way students fund their way through college education,” said Allison Dobson, spokeswoman for Harkin.

On May 30, the Department of Education changed the tax tables for determining eligibility for Pell Grants and other types of federal financial aid, resulting in a $270 million drop in Pell Grant funds. On an individual level, a typical student receiving $4,000 would see their grant reduced to $2,000, Corzine said in a Senate report.

“Tinkering around with the formula is going to end up undermining the ability of literally hundreds of thousands of middle-class Americans to have access to financial aid grants and loans,” Corzine said in the report.

“When students have to drop out or are not able to go to college and there is a decreased demand for higher education from students, we are losing a major investment in human capital as time goes on,” he said. “I think we need to do something about this.”

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, voted “no” on the amendment. He could not be reached in his office for comment Friday.

Over 5,200 ISU students use the Pell Grant to help fund their education. If the tax tables were changed, nearly all of those students would lose a part of their grant, and some could lose theirs entirely.

The tax tables were changed by the Department of Education for the first time in 10 years in order to reflect changes in the economy.

Earlier this year, the education department updated allowances for taxes in the formula to calculate how much families can contribute to their child’s education. A student’s family gets an allowance for paying state and local taxes. The allowance then reduces the amount of their students’ expected family contribution.

“I am having a hard time understanding, as I read the newspapers and I hear that state income taxes and local income taxes are going up, why we have to implement this [Pell Grant reduction] today,” Corzine said.

Roberta Johnson, associate director of financial aid, explained the meaning behind the new tax brackets.

“The rationale was to update the tax code along with the economy,” Johnson said. “The Department of Education felt the current tax bracket system didn’t reflect the economy as a whole.”

Johnson said she approved of the Senate amendment, and she stressed the importance of Pell Grants, which cover as much as 40 percent of the costs of a student’s education.

“The fact that the Senate barred the cut in Pell Grant support will help the neediest students,” she said.