Mount Sinai, NY - April 23, 2015 - Suffolk County Legislature Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory and Legislator Sarah Anker, chairwoman of the Legislature’s Education and Information Technology Committee, and Dr. W. Hubert Keen, President of Farmingdale State College, invited student leaders from Suffolk County’s higher education institutions, and educational, business and financial aid experts to two public forums to examine the impact a 10-year freeze in Pell Grant funding would have on students and families.

The hearings will be conducted in partnership with the Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education (LIRACHE), a consortium of 18 colleges and universities in the region.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to freeze the current per year maximum of Pell Grant funding of $5,730 per student for 10 years. Pell Grant funding covers roughly 36% of the cost of college for recipients. As the cost of college rises, a 10-year freeze would put college further out of reach for many of the nine million low to modest-income students that received Pell Grant funding last year. The vote by Congress to freeze Pell Grant funding is the first step in the Federal budget process, which is still underway.

“Pell Grants keep college a reality for millions of Americans every year and having relied on financial aid myself to help pay for college, it’s unthinkable we’d take that opportunity away from tens of thousands of current and future students in Suffolk County,” said Presiding Officer Gregory. “Our hearings will examine the impact a freeze to Pell Grant funding would have in Suffolk and we hope will produce meaningful solutions on how to keep college within reach.”

“As a mother of three, I’ve always told my children that college would provide them with the opportunity to be successful,” said Legislator Anker. “But a freeze to Pell Grant funding would steal that opportunity away from thousands in Suffolk County. We must fight to keep college affordable for our young people, because if we don’t, we risk more of them leaving Suffolk County for other parts of the country.”

“As educators, it’s our responsibility to help students to succeed, but that’s becoming increasingly difficult as students, many of whom rely heavily on Pell Grants and already work full- and part-time jobs to pay for school, struggle under the best of conditions,” said LIRACHE Chairman and Farmingdale State College President Dr. Keen. “The hearings will raise awareness to an issue that’s been overlooked and provide a meaningful dialogue with the goal of generating concrete solutions on how to keep college affordable.”

Last year, Pell Grant funding made higher education possible for thousands of students in Suffolk, many of whom work full- and part-time jobs to pay for school. Last month, Presiding Officer Gregory and Legislator Anker were joined by Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Shaun McKay and college students to announce their plans to devise a five-year financial plan for the community college aimed at providing the more than 8,000 Pell Grant recipients with tuition certainty.

Each hearing will be two hours in length, and will consist of three presentations and testimony from audience members. The first hearing will be held at Suffolk County Community College’s Brentwood campus in room 105 in the Health, Sports and Education Center on April 29 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The second hearing will be held at Farmingdale State College in the Campus Center Ballroom on May 8 from 2 to 4 p.m.

At the conclusion of the hearings, the results of the panel’s hearings on the impact on current and future students will be sent to the Long Island federal delegation.