Students to Receive $50 Less On Government's Basic Grants

Students with Basic Educational Opportunity Grants (BEOGs) will receive $50 less than expected from the federally-financed program for the coming year, regardless of the total amount of their individual grants.

The reductions will affect about 1350 Harvard students who receive BEOGs, Elizabeth M. Hicks, associate director of financial aid, said yesterday, adding that Harvard will make up the $50 loss for all students by using scholarship funds. The average grant for a student here is about $1000, she said.

Cutting Edge

The BEOG cutbacks are the results of recent efforts by the federal government to balance the budget, Susan L. Davis, an economist in the Department of Education's office of planning and budgets, said yesterday.

The move will save the government about $140 million on the BEOG program, which costs about $2.5 million annually, Davis added.

Under the new rules, the basic grants--which are calculated on the basis of individual financial need and the cost of education at a particular school--the maximum BEOG available is $1750 and the minimum $150.

"We don't think the change will affect students all that much," Jane Glickman, a spokesman for the Department of Education, said yesterday, adding that she though colleges "will make every effort" to make up for the reductions.

"No one's going to be cut out of school because he can't afford $50," Glickman said.

The reduction in BEOG awards "is not going to ake a bit of difference to students at Yale because we are going to replace the BEOG money with Yale money," Constance L. White, director of undergraduate financial aid at Yale, said yesterday. About 1000 students at Yale receive BEOGs, she added.

White said that while schools like Harvard and Yale "have an awful lot of our own money, in schools that do not have large financial aid programs based on the institution's own funding, you will find students without $50."

Davis agreed, saying that unlike Harvard and other Ivy League colleges, most schools will not have funds available to offset the $50 loss in BEOG money. She said most schools would try to provide funds to students with the lowest incomes, leaving less money for middle-income students.

"If you're filling the gaps for all the poor kids, it's got to be at the expense of someone else," Davis said