Petition to Protect Federal Student Aid From Cuts Draws 36,000 Signatures

The Student Aid Alliance, a group representing 62 higher-education associations, has surpassed 36,000 signatures on a petition to spare federal student-aid programs from budget cuts by Congress. The 10-day-old campaign to lobby against the possibility that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction will cut Pell Grants and other student-aid programs has garnered support from students, faculty members, and administrators across the country. David L. Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said students and campus leaders must speak out for federal student-loan programs and remind legislators that $30-billion has already been cut from the programs.