School administrators and a group of 24 students are in Austin today to talk to the state legislature about the importance of the Texas Equalization Grant to private university students.

Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid Mike Scott said the current state budget would cut the program’s funding by 41 percent, limit the grant only to renewals and would not grant any assistance to incoming students for the 2011-12 school year.

It’s unfortunate that the state would make such a large cut to the program, especially when the cut also is illogical 8212; the TEG actually would save the state more money in the long run because it enables more students to attend private colleges rather than public ones, which are partially funded by the state.

More important than the program’s benefits to the state, though, are its benefits to the student recipients of its aid. Scott said 1,352 TCU students received a grant from the program for the 2010-11 school year.

The state should reconsider its budget cuts to the TEG because the overall and long-term negative effects far outweigh any short-term benefits. We hope the legislature will be receptive to what the university’s delegation has to say and, if the TEG’s funding isn’t restored to what it was before, that the legislature will at least make the cuts less significant for its own and the students’ sake.

Associate/opinion editor Marshall Doig for the editorial board.