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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>All, yesterday I received approval from the OASFAA Board to send the below correspondence to our 2 Senators and 5 Representatives in DC. Should your institution’s administration allow you, I would strongly urge you to write your own letter, appealing to our Congressmen to be diligent in retaining the funding that is so very vital to our students. Because the FY 12 budget talks and debt ceiling issues have the potential to impact federal student aid so significantly, now is the time to let our voices be heard.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>*****<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>I write to you today with a dual role. I am the Assistant Director of Student Financial Aid at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, located in Oklahoma City, and I am also fortunate to serve as the President of the Oklahoma Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA). OASFAA is a professional organization comprised of financial aid administrators from across the state, representing a wide variety of higher education institutions and vocational training centers across the state. I speak for the students, not only at my institution, but across the state and nation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Our mission, as financial aid administrators, is to administer the institutional, state, and federal aid programs that provide access to students seeking and pursuing post-secondary education. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) shows that <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d10/tables/dt10_003.asp?referrer=list">enrollment</a> in post-secondary education is at an all-time high. A 2009 longitudinal <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011236">study</a> by the NCES also reflects that bachelor’s degree recipients borrow an average of $24,700.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>In the <a href="http://conferences.nasfaa.org/2011Lead/Resources.aspx">2010-2011 year</a>, 8,233,802 students were awarded Federal Pell Grants, totaling $29,360,615,964. For the <a href="http://conferences.nasfaa.org/2011Lead/Resources.aspx">same year</a>, in Oklahoma alone, 90,496 students received $322,414,050 in Federal Pell Grant funds. </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>On April 15, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget resolution that would roll back the maximum Pell Grant to FY2008 level</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>s. Additionally, the GOP budget resolution calls for the repealing and defunding of the Healthcare and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA), which includes mandatory funding for the Pell Grant program. This could further lower the maximum grant by $690. Currently at $5,550, the maximum Pell Grant award only covers an average of 40% of college costs at a four-year public institution. Reducing the maximum Pell Grant by more than half its current level would devastate millions of low- and middle-income students who rely on the program to further their educations and ensure the United States remains economically competitive for decades to come. </span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Currently proposed is the elimination of graduate students’ loan subsidies. While I do not advocate for this, I do realize the possible necessity of such a move. If this were to occur, I would urge you however to support legislation that only invests these costs savings into the Federal Pell Grant program, not into deficit reduction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A <a href="http://pewsocialtrends.org/2011/05/15/is-college-worth-it/2/#chapter-1-overview">Pew Research</a> survey and 2010 Census Bureau data both show that college degree recipients earn $19,550 per year more than those with just a high school diploma. Pew Research analysis also concludes that a typical college graduate earns an estimated $550,000 more than the typical high school graduate. The same cited survey notes that 74% of the respondents felt their college educations helped them grow intellectually, 69% said that their educations facilitated them to mature as individuals, and 69% responded that it prepared them for a job or a career.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Without a doubt, the key to a successful society is education. I do not want to minimize the fiscal predicament in which this country finds itself. However, to disinvest in the future of this country and its citizens by cutting federal financial aid dollars and increasing individuals’ debt burdens could serve to financially cripple those who wish to pursue their post-secondary education goals and for many others, could conceivably serve as an obstacle to never pursue those goals at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Thank you for your continued support of the Pell Grant program and all federal student funding and all you do for students and families in Oklahoma.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>*****<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>Mendy Schmerer<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>2011-2012 OASFAA President<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Assistant Director<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Office of Student Financial Aid</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>1106 N. Stonewall, Rm 301</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>Oklahoma City, OK 73117</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>(405) 271-2118, x 48817 (p)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt'>(405) 271-5446 (f)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:Mendy-Schmerer@ouhsc.edu"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>Mendy-Schmerer@ouhsc.edu</span></a><span style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://www.ouhsc.edu/sfs/"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://www.ouhsc.edu/sfs/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>