Budget cuts pending in the Iowa Legislature have targeted work-study funding in Iowa’s regent universities and community colleges, potentially putting about 4,000 students out of work.

The $2.75 million program currently helps more than 800 ISU students receive financial aid through the work-study program, but may be cut as a part of the education funding bill.

Interim Dean of Students Peter Englin said the university is doing all it can to work with the Legislature and keep the program intact. The Dean of Students Office has been advising members of the Government of the Student Body about information to present to legislators.

GSB President Andy Tofilon and other GSB representatives spoke to the Legislature Tuesday on behalf of the students who depend on work study to pay for college.

“I’ve been talking with a lot of work-study students, and they are obviously concerned,” he said.

Not only will work-study students have to find alternate employment to pay for tuition and rent if the program is cut, they also will have to absorb an impending tuition increase.

“They are taking the rug from underneath us, and now they want to remove the foundation as well,” Tofilon said.

Sen. Johnie Hammond, D-Ames, said the Senate will continue today to debate the education bill, which would cut six programs including work study in addition to $15.8 million from the ISU budget. Hammond worked with two other legislators to begin Iowa’s matching program for federal work-study in the mid-1980s. She said the program is extremely valuable and beneficial for students.

“[Work study] often provides work in which the student is majoring,” Hammond said. “When the student graduates, they will have a leg up when getting a job.”

While the Iowa supplement to the federal program probably will be cut, she said there will still be $11 million of federal funding available to students. But Hammond said the federal government may answer with cuts of its own if Iowa takes away its funding, so the ultimate damage will fall on the shoulders of students.

Englin said the university employs many of the students on work study, and their work would be sorely missed.

“It’s not a matter of if it will happen, but to what extent,” he said. “It affects the organizations within Iowa State that employ students. How are we going to get that work done?”

There are no plans in the near future to mend the loss of financial aid to students, and Hammond predicted a dramatic increase in tuition when the decision goes to the Board of Regents in the fall.

“I don’t know where they are improving access to financial aid,” she said. “It’s just not in the budget.”

Tofilon has been working to help students contact their local legislators, and he urges other students to protest the cuts.

“This is a time where we really need to stand up and fight,” he said.