Sequestration Puts ISU's Work Study, Student Grants Programs In Jeopardy

Iowa State University work study programs and grants for post secondary education could be in danger if Congress doesn't reach a Sequestration deal before Friday, March 1.

Sequestration is a series of automatic federal spending cuts that will total $1.2 trillion over 10 years, according to CNN. Congress scheduled the cuts in 2011 as part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, and delayed them again during Fiscal Cliff negotiations, CNN reports.

Sequestration would reduce the amount of funds that the University receives for the Federal Work Study and Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant Programs in the 2013-14 school year, Roberta Johnson, director of financial aid at Iowa State, said via ISU News Service.

However the exact dollar amount is unknown.

The across the board cuts would affect a vast number of programs (even an air show) if Democrats and Republicans fail to reach an agreement Friday.

The Department of Defense would be hardest hit, according to a report from ISU News.

And Iowa would be out $292 million in federal funding and thousands of jobs, according to an analysis by Dave Swenson, an associate scientist in Iowa State University's Department of Economics.

The state could lose the equivalent of 3,570 jobs and $265 million in household income, Swenson said in an ISU News report.

While the full impact is unknown, since each agency would be responsible for determining how to cut its budget, Swenson said cuts like these would “force the economy into a recession.”

“Contrary to what many people say Iowa hasn’t been growing; it hasn’t been recovering as fast as the nation. We actually have some evidence that our workforce is contracting,” Swenson said in the report. “A further loss in employment is really bad news; it’s the kind of bad news Iowa’s economy currently can’t absorb.”

Swenson said employers would likely furlough workers instead of issuing layoffs, but that would still equal a decrease in spending.

Read More on Patch:

Sequestration 2013: Congress to Ames: 'Drop Dead'?

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