Spring 2012 issue of Horizons

Colleges & Universities - continued

More Changes on the Horizon Given the current state of the federal budget as well as the upcoming presidential election, it is very difficult to predict what the 2013/2014 award year will look like. However, the President’s fiscal 2013 budget request did contain the following provisions that would directly impact institutions of higher education: • A 1.5% increase in the maximum Pell Grant award. If the budget request is fulfilled, the maximum amount students would receive in an award year would rise to $5,635 from the previous level of $5,550. • Vastly increasing the accessibility and allocations related to the Federal Perkins Loan Program and shifting the responsibility of the administration of the loans to the Department of Education. • Revisions to the allocation of campus-based aid to schools that provide good value to students as indicated by whether students are able to find employment after graduation, those schools that set responsible tuition rate policies and

those schools that admit and graduate higher proportions of low-income students. • Increase of $150 million (approximately 15%) to the Federal Work Study Program. • A one-year reprieve preventing the scheduled increase of subsidized direct loans from 3.4% to 6.8%. • Increases in the grant allocations to the National Science Foundation programs and other agencies that are charged with scientific research. • Creating competitive grants designed to promote the development and innovation of more productive and effective college campuses. These grants coincide with the President’s directives that call for college campuses to implement more lean operating structures and echo the majority of the budget directives and objectives that are currently being communicated at the State level.

RubinBrown’s Colleges & Universities Services Group RubinBrown provides assurance, tax and management consulting services to colleges and universities, both public and private.

Brent Stevens, CPA - St. Louis Partner-In-Charge brent.stevens@rubinbrown.com 314.290.3428

Bert R. Bondi, CPA - Denver Partner bert.bondi@rubinbrown.com 303.952.1213

Kaleb J. Lilly, CPA - Kansas City Partner kaleb.lilly@rubinbrown.com 913.499.4417

Raise Your Expectations

31