BENNETT SUPPORTS REAGAN PLAN, BUT WANTS "SHOT" AT REWORKING STUDENT AID - Interview

Sep 28, 2026

William Bennett, Education Secretary, supports President Reagan’s student aid proposals but calls for revisions, saying he wants his “shot” at reworking the program after closely examining Congress and the president’s decisions. Reagan’s plan proposes a $4,000 cap on total federal aid and a $32,500 family income limit for eligibility. Bennett argues cuts are tied to budget and cost issues, acknowledges potential hardship, and defends related tuition tax credit and education voucher measures.

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BENNETT SUPPORTS REAGAN PLAN, BUT WANTS "SHOT" AT REWORKING STUDENT AID

Reagan’s proposed limits and eligibility

Bennett’s rationale for cuts and concerns for students

Tuition tax credit and education voucher defenses

Bennett’s staffing and succession remarks

Vol。13,No.40 # BENNETT SUPPORTS REAGAN PLAN,BUT WANTS"SHOT"AT REWORKING STUDENT AID Education Secretary William Bennett,who inherited hotly contested proposals tocut federal student aid,said Monday he supports them but wants his own"shot"at hammering out changes in the program。 "No matter what the Congress and the president decide to do this year,I'mgoing to take a very close look at it[student aid]because I want my shot atthis,"Bennett said in an interview at his Education Department office. Bennett,who took over at ED just days before President Reagan unvelled hisfiscal 1986 budget proposal to slash $1.5 billion from student aid,called the plan a"sound proposal."But his remarks indicatethat he believes the president's proposal could be1mproved,and that he wants to rework the plan ifit is unsuccessful on Capitol Hill. -Interview— Reagan's plan would place a $4,000 cap on a student's total federal aid packageand a $32,500 family income limit for Guaranteed Student Loan(GSL)eligibility(HED,Feb.5)。 "I think everybody can see that student aid programs have got problems,"Bennett said."I would like my shot at thinking it through."He declined,however,to give further details on how he'd like to rework the programs. Aid Must Be CutBut the new secretary did not back away from the admin-istration's basic premise that the nearly $8 billion student aid program mustbe reduced."We have a budget problem and we have particular problems in thatprogram,which has skyrocketed in terms of its cost,"Bennett said. "Nobody who is subsidized by government likes to see that subsidy diminished oreliminated,"he said.The cuts would "result in hardship for some and belt-tightening for others." Students,educators and politicians have attacked the $1.5 billion student aidcut,estimating that the plan would reduce the federal deficit next year byonly 1 percent.But Bennett Monday said "a lot of smigeons can add up to asubstantial chunk …a billion here,a billion there in different programs andyou are talking about substantial reductions in the deficit." Bennett said he"feels”for students who,under Reagan's budget,may not beable to go to expensive private schools like Williams College,which heattended.Bennett acknowledegd that he borrowed about $12,000 for his owncollege and graduate education,$2,000 of it federal. "I'm sorry that the student who wants to go to [the College of]Wooster(more) # BENNETT WANTS "SHOT"AT REWORKING STUDENT AID(Cont.) doesn't have the funds and therefore goes to Ohio State,"Bennett said."ButI'm more sorry for the student who without our support can't go to college atall.We have limited dollars and it seems that is where we ought to put thoselimited dollars in providing the opportunity for everybody to go to college." The secretary said he doesn't remember what federal program his $2,000 in aidcame from.But,he said,"Anyone who wants to [can]argue that I benefitedfrom a very generous system and now I am arguing for reductions in that system,[but]the system was a lot leaner at the time I was going to school." Although Bennett Monday said again that student aid should be cut,he said hewishes he hadn't said that the cuts may require"divestiture"of studentluxuries like stereos and cars(HED,Feb.12). "If I had the gift of seeing the future,the gift of prophecy,then I wouldhave avoided that,"Bennett said of the words that have trailed him since hetook over ED's helm earlier this month."I wouldn't have said it at all if Ihad to say it all over again." Taken Out Of ContextAccording to Bennett,the comment was taken "out ofcontext"and"makes me gound 1ike I'm harsh and mean and I'm diminishing theobvious consequences of the reductions." The former National Endowment for the Humanities chairman also defended theadministration's tuition tax credit and education voucher proposals to helpparents of elementary and secondary schoolers send their children to privateschools. Some have said the provisions clash with the

FAQs

What changes does William Bennett want to make to Reagan’s student aid proposal?

Bennett supports the proposal but wants to rework it after taking a close look at it. He does not provide specific details in the text, only stating that he wants his “shot” at thinking the plan through.

What limits does Reagan’s student aid plan propose?

The plan would impose a $4,000 cap on a student’s total federal aid package and a $32,500 family income limit for eligibility for Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) programs.

How does Bennett address tuition tax credit and voucher proposals alongside student aid cuts?

Bennett defends tuition tax credits and education voucher proposals as ways of providing tax write-offs and support to families to make choices about where to attend school, while also noting limits in choice at the secondary level.

Sep 28, 2026

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