The Katrina disaster was a huge blow to this country. Hundreds are dead. Families lost everything: their jobs, their homes and their social networks. The sick and the elderly in the region were victimized. Entire industries crumbled; the economic base in the area disappeared, with ramifications throughout the U.S. Colleges were evacuated, flooding and fire damage ensued. Over 10,000 students fled, many dropped out, and others enrolled in assisting institutions elsewhere. Jazz ceased and we all bled.

But in the weeks after Labor Day, the country is responding and rebuilding. The pumps are pumping out the floodwaters. The streets have been reclaimed. Donations are pouring in, citizens are opening up their homes and hearts, business is responding, students are arriving on the scene to rebuild homes. Feisty community leaders and business owners are re-emerging. Despite the enormous challenge of rebuilding economic infrastructure, job opportunities, education and housing that face the region, there is hope, there is heart. The tradition of aid in America toward one another in a time of need has triumphed over the vulnerability and abandonment that the storm exposed.

However, Hurricane Katrina has left us with a bigger question. How did our communities become so vulnerable? These families had no insurance, no access to quality health care, not enough money to get out quickly when an emergency strikes, no savings account, no social network beyond the immediate region to assist them in the face of such incredible loss. In fact, the disaster has exposed to the country the plight of our middle-income and lower-income families all across the country before the hurricane hit, and just how precarious their situation is. Millions of families live with the odds stacked against them; lacking opportunity, they live without cash savings, without insurance, without the skills of a well-trained work force, without access to civic networks that serve communities. It is clear that in the same spirit of aid that has enabled our country to address the immediate needs of the victims after Katrina, we need to strengthen our social fabric with the same compassion and common vision.

And that is where education comes in. Only one-quarter of this country has a college degree; but we know that a college degree creates a skilled work force, a higher salary upon graduation and a stronger likelihood that civic structures can flourish to buttress communities from blows over time. Without the opportunity of a college degree, millions of people yearly live with the odds stacked against them. Now is the time to strengthen this country's programs that are available for lower- and middle-income families and students to beat the odds, access affordable education and be better situated to weathering storms of all kinds.

Rather than making college more affordable, Congress is planning a raid on student aid! This fall, both the House and the Senate are planning to divert billions of dollars away from the students who need them. The House of Representatives has proposed cutting $9 billion dollars of aid to students by raising interest rates and eliminating borrower benefits; these cuts could cost the average student borrower up to $5,800 in extra interest payments. The Senate will raise interest rates for family loans and divert $7 billion dollars away from the students who need them. All in the name of a deficit reduction package, which actually adds to the deficit once the numbers are calculated!

The fact is that millions of students and families come up short of what the federal government estimates they need to pay for college, even after adding up all available federal and state aid, expected family contributions, and student work. The typical low-income student falls $3,800 short a year at a four-year school, while the typical middle class student falls $2,300 short. Yet, the way to lead students out of this hole is right in front of Congress; both chambers could increase Pell Grant funding by $17 billion just by removing inefficiencies in the student loan program. This would raise the Pell Grant scholarship by as much at $1,000. If the additional cuts proposed above were also recycled back into the aid programs, then Congress would gain the ability to markedly increase grant aid further and provide lower interest rates on loans.

This is a golden opportunity to get middle- and lower-income families and students out of the hole, and for the American people to maintain our tradition of aid and community that has gotten us through the aftermath so far. Let's hope Congress responds to this spirit.

Swarthout works on the State

PIRGs' Higher Education Project.

He can be reached at

lswarthout@pirg.org.