Neglecting the Unique Needs of the Higher Education Community

President Bush has paid very little attention to higher education over the past four years. Instead, he has spent the bulk if his efforts on K-12 education. His No Child Left Behind accountability program was enacted in 2001, and has since drawn heavy criticism from parents, educators, and law makers for its inadequate funding and punitive motivational techniques. Currently, Bush is trying to implement an accountability model for post-secondary education. However, the only way that his education team has approached this issue is through attacking graduation rates.

An accountability model that focuses on graduation rates does not take into account the many nuances of higher education that set it apart from K-12 education, most notably that higher education is not compulsory. The federal government has little say in hol

Ø Bush broke his campaign promise to increase the maximum Pell Grant to $5100.

Ø Many non-traditional students work part-time and do not graduate in six years.

President Bush broke his promise to raise the maximum Pell Grant Award. In a 2000 campaign speech in Hampton, New Hampshire, Bush promised to increase the maximum Pell award to $5100. Since that speech, he raised the maximum amount from $4000 to $4050, and has threatened to veto any subsequent raises. Bush’s 2005 educational budget calls for no increase in Pell money, which already has a $3.7-billion shortfall in the program's budget. This marks three consecutive years without an increase, and denies thousands of low-income students the additional $1100 that he promised to bring as President. Their devalued Pell money is stretched even further as tuition prices at public universities have climbed 35 percent.

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