June 4, 2025

Today, The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs led 63 organizations representing a broad coalition of national and state advocates, institutions of higher education, students, service providers, labor unions, and researchers, urging the Senate to reject all provisions of the House reconciliation bill, H.R. 1, that will exacerbate the crisis of student basic needs insecurity in higher education by reducing access to federal financial aid, reducing access and creating administrative burden for students and families in public benefit programs, and reduce state fiscal support for higher education.

Specifically, the letter urges lawmakers to abandon provisions in the House bill that would cut or eliminate Pell Grants and subsidized loans for millions of students, significantly reduce access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid for those who already struggle to meet food, healthcare, and other costs, and create new cost sharing burdens on states in SNAP and Medicaid. Taken together, these proposals within the House bill would raise prices for students and families whose budgets can least afford it, increase rates of food insecurity, cause many to become uninsured, force students to drop out of their degree program in favor of low-wage work, and create extreme fiscal pressure on states that would result in tuition increases and cuts to public higher education and other vital state services.