Santa Clara University Urges Community Action Against Federal Financial Aid Cuts

News

Jun 14

Santa Clara University’s enrollment office sent a campus-wide email this week urging the University community to send letters to Congress and oppose proposed federal legislation that could eliminate billions in student financial aid funding.

The email, sent Wednesday by SCU Enrollment, warned that H.R. 1, known as “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” has the potential to eliminate $350 billion from student financial aid programs, making college “less accessible and affordable for individual and aspiring students,” as stated in the email.

Sandra Hayes, assistant vice president for enrollment, clarified that the message was not intended to be a partisan statement but rather as an urgent call to protect programs that students across all backgrounds depend on.

“This particular email definitely was intended not to be a political statement. It’s a statement about financial aid that our students rely on and need,” Hayes said. “If these aid programs are not available to them, it becomes less likely that we can maintain that level of access and openness to students.”

The proposed legislation includes several significant changes to federal student aid programs. Most notably, it would eliminate subsidized loans for undergraduate students, meaning students would accrue interest on their loans while enrolled in school. The bill would also restrict Pell Grant eligibility and eliminate the Grad PLUS program for graduate students.

“Most of our students have subsidized loans,” Hayes explained. “Students, while enrolled, are not accruing interest on those loans. So if indeed that loan became unavailable, and everything now is unsubsidized—which means as soon as you get the first dispersion of the loan, interest starts to accrue—hat makes a big difference.”

The changes would particularly impact Santa Clara University’s student body, where approximately 73% of undergraduate students receive some form of financial aid. Hayes noted that for some students, this might mean just a loan, while others receive more comprehensive aid packages using every available program.

Hayes said the timing of the University’s message was deliberate, as more specific details about the legislation have recently become available.

“I think we have more details now,” she said. “Earlier, I think it would have been less impactful because we didn’t have enough specifics. It was a more generic ‘there’s something happening with the loan programs’ without detail.”

Hayes acknowledged that the University would be unable to fill the financial gaps if federal programs were eliminated.

“Obviously the University, based on the programs that are being looked at, it would be a major stretch for the University to be able to fill in those gaps, and it’s very unlikely that we would be able to,” Hayes said.

While the proposed changes wouldn’t take effect until 2026, meaning current incoming students wouldn’t be immediately affected, Hayes warned about the long-term implications for access to higher education.

The University is encouraging community members to visit the Student Aid Alliance’s “Contact Congress” page to send messages to their senators and representatives opposing the cuts.

Hayes expressed particular confidence in the power of student voices in this advocacy effort.

“I really do believe that student voices in these kinds of situations may be more powerful than voices of administrators or financial aid professionals,” she said. “Student voices represent individuals who are directly impacted.”

Hayes felt the urgency of the situation emboldened the necessity for the call-to-action email, and that the timely nature of the issue required little hesitancy in reaching out to the student body.

“We felt this was important enough that everybody should know that this could actually happen,” Hayes said. “If there is a window to speak, this is the window right that time is of the essence.”

Featured

Dylan Ryu.