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Tim Post
St. Paul, Minn.

Obama's budget would cost summer college students

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Needy Minnesota college students would lose Pell Grants for summer classes under a budget plan released by President Barack Obama on Monday.

Obama said the change is necessary to fully fund the grants for nine million college students across the country.

Jared Weber, with the Minnesota State University Student Association, said Pell Grants for summer courses help students finish college more quickly.

"The sooner you can get done with school the less you're going to end up paying out of pocket in the long run," he said. "If you can take some summer classes and you need the Pell Grant to do that, it's concerning."

Obama's plan also stops subsidies that pay the interest on graduate students' federal loans while they're in school. The plan is expected to save $100 billion over the next 10 years.

This year 145,000 Minnesota students received Pell Grants. The average amount was more than $3,200.

The plan also ends subsidies for grad students' federal loans, which means interest on those loans would begin to accrue immediately.