Bush budget: NSF up, NIH flat

By Cynthia Lee

President Bush's recently released budget for 2008-09 delivered a mix of good and bad news to America's research universities.

Since the federal government provides the lion's share of awards UCLA researchers receive, the new budget proposal was being studied, explained Kim Kovacs Savage, executive director of federal relations, although the proposal only provides a baseline and is far from concrete since Congress will now take the lead in the budget process. Of the $914 million the campus received in extramural funding in 2006-07, the federal government distributed $585 million of that, or 64%.

Winners in the president's proposal are the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Office of Science at the Energy Department, more specifically, physics researchers who have borne the brunt of two years of serious budget cuts.

The losers appear to be the National Institutes of Health, which received no increase from 2008 levels in the president's budget, and NASA research programs. Also losing are students who benefit from two financial aid programs — the Perkins Loan program and the Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG) program — which the Bush administration wants to shut down.

"For them to completely deep-six these programs is not in the interest of students here and across the country," said Ron Johnson, financial aid director at UCLA.

This year 2,590 UCLA students are receiving SEOG funds totaling $2.1 million. SEOG is for undergraduates with exceptional need. Approximately 4,707 UCLA undergraduates and graduates are using Perkins loans, amounting to $6.9 million, to help pay for school.

The beauty of the Perkins loan program, Johnson explained, is that it doesn't require any new money. When loans are repaid by students, the money is recycled out as new loans. So the program's success depends on the institution’s ability to collect those funds from borrowers.

"At UCLA we have one of the lowest default rates in the country, under 2%," Johnson said. "Collection is not a problem for us because our students feel they have benefited from their education."

The Bush administration is proposing to eliminate the two programs in order to increase funding for Pell Grants by 19%. While an increase is good, Johnson said, eliminating the other two programs "would be a great loss."