By Trevor Williams ‘13, Staff Writer

Newark Academy students are lucky, and American students are lucky too. As prep school students, and as Americans, we have two of the major prerequisites to attending college: ability and access. For those who have the ability and the access, American institutions of higher education are some of the best in the world. The opportunities open to them are without bound. Unfortunately, our legislators are threatening those students who have the ability but who cannot pay—those who receive federal loans and grants. By cutting programs which improve college access for many low and middle-income students, we are handicapping ourselves in an increasingly globalized society.

As the budget crisis threatens to spiral out of control, politicians have been jockeying for politically appealing but largely superficial cuts to programs which improve many students’ access to higher education. H.R. 1, a bill passed in the House of Representatives which would fund the federal government through September 30 (the end of the fiscal year), would needlessly take the axe to many popular and essential programs.

We face $5.6 billion in cuts to federal Pell Grants for low and middle-income undergraduate students. We face the total elimination of Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership, a similarly purposed program, which could reduce state aid to students by as much as $1 billion. When you take into account the fact that beleaguered state governments continue to cut education budgets as federal stimulus money dries up, you can see that America’s youth face a crisis. For many needy students, these programs are what enables them to attend college. If the programs are cut, an entire generation of needy students will lose access to higher education.

These cuts are misplaced. Our legislators cannot balance the budget solely by cutting non-defense discretionary spending—the twenty percent of the budget which does not include defense or mandatory programs, like entitlements and interest on the national debt.

However, even if it were possible to solve the budget crisis by cutting these education programs, it would not be a good idea. We are handicapping ourselves and compromising the future vigor of America by cutting our own education system. The United States is already falling behind much of the developed world in terms of educating its children and preparing its workforce, and further cuts will simply accelerate this trend.

The programs in question are intended to help low-income students who do not have wide access to higher education, or even quality primary education. If we cut these programs, the idea of social mobility, already threatened by an increasingly polarized class society, will be nothing more than a dream remembered. If anything, we should be investing in our future, and sending more students to college who are capable but simply cannot afford it.

Back to the aforementioned luck. A fine educational opportunity, like the one we have at Newark Academy, is a wonderful thing. Even more, we as Americans have access to some of the best institutions of higher learning in the world. Living in a wealthy area with a high percentage of college graduates, and attending a school where all students anticipate graduating college themselves, it’s easy to overlook the good fortune we have, and the rarity of the situation we are in. As modern students, our access to knowledge has no parallel in history. Our generation has the potential to be the most well informed group of human beings that has ever existed.

Poor budgetary policies are all that stand in our way. From Capitol Hill to the Newark Academy business office, we as students are subject to the whims of those above us. Throughout its history, NA has blossomed into a respected institution of learning under the careful supervision of its stewards. Today, our school is stronger than ever. There is not much we can do (at least not directly) to save the American education system from draconian budget cutbacks. We cannot assure our indigent peers access to a college education. But at our small prep school, we are Plato’s dream realized. We are philosopher kings (and queens), the guardians and captains of our society with boundless access to information and knowledge. We must do everything within our power to ensure that NA, and the glorious experience of educational enlightenment that it has been for each of us, is around for posterity.