State Reps. Look to Supplement Reagan Cuts in Student Aid

Massachusetts legislators fearful of the consequences of President Reagan's proposed budget cuts in student aid are considering how the state should help students finance their college education, lawmakers said this week.

The state's Legislative Committee on Education will next month examine the possible impact of Reagan's education budget and from that, work out supplementary programs to provide Massachusetts schools with sufficient levels of aid.

"The President is on a ruthless path of destruction [of student aid], and we hope to fill the most obnoxious of the gaps," said State Rep. Stephen W. Doran (D-Lexington).

Doran, and the other 10 members of the Education Committee, said they will try to replace many of the important programs that may be devastated by the proposed Reagan initiatives.

"We philosophically recognize that the Reagan agenda is destructive to education--his cuts are shortsighted in terms of the future quality of education of our young people, and their ability to function in society," said Doran.

In the past few years, Massachusetts legislators have said they have made an extra effort to increase student aid but are now concerned that this positive trend will not be able to continue if the president's proposed cuts become law.

"Massachusetts has witnessed increases in scholarship aid accelerating at a rate faster than any other state in the nation," said State Rep. and Education Committee Chairman Nicholas A. Paleologos (D-Woburn).

The state education scholarship budget has gone from $10-$12 million in 1981, to $75 million last year, an increase that Paleologos attributes to supplementary state programs, despite federal initiatives.

"We have had a state surplus [in the budget] but we won't always have one," said Doran, and for that reason he fears that future state programs to aid students are endangered.

Reagan's proposal will deny many middle class families the opportunity to get federal student loans, and will weaken the chance for young people to get an education, said Doran.

"But [the Education Committee] is fighting back--if the country stands for opportunity, it can't deny an education to students," said Doran. "Reagan's proposed policy will deny access to students, be it to Harvard, or to Massachusetts Bay Community College," he added.

"Massachusetts has a very strong tradition of access to higher education--the number of applicants on financial aid have increased dramatically, and we believe it's our responsibility to keep access to private institutions high," Doran said.

Reagan's education budget proposal will significantly reduce financial assistance from the federal government to the state, said State Rep. Timothy F. O'Leary (D-Melrose).

Reagan proposes a $5.5 billion reduction in education, and $4.3 billion of it will come out of the post secondary, education program--the student aid programs, said O'Leary.

While 85 percent of the budget cuts will already affect student financial assistance, Reagan's budget also proposes to shift many grants to loans, and will eliminate work-study and reduce the Pell Grant program, O'Leary said.

But the Reagan cuts are not likely to make it through Congress, political observers said. The United States Senate's Committee on Education has proposed increases in Pell grants and the freezing of federal student aid levels.

While Reagan's federal program proposes to cut aid, Governor Michael S. Dukakis' budget recommendation will freeze student aid funds at $75 million.

"Student scholarship has exploded over 200 percent in the past few years," said Mary L. Spolidoro, Budget Director of the Massachusetts Board of Regents, "and the no growth budget this year is basically a funding decision--a decision made in the context of there being very little money," she said.