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"Columbia University looked at federal aid data from 1996 to 2008 and found that, on average, colleges raised tuition $17 in response to every $100 of Pell Grant aid. Perversely, Pell Grant generosity spurs schools to raise prices to capture aid. The less affordable a school, the likelier a low-income applicant will qualify."

"The elderly, who have traditionally relied on spouses for their care, will increasingly struggle to fend for themselves. And federal and local governments will have to shoulder much of the cost of their care. Unmarried baby boomers are five times more likely to live in poverty than their married counterparts, statistics show."

"Utah high school students and their families would have to pay for college-level credits, long offered for free, under a bill headed to the Senate floor.SB284 is needed because Utah colleges and universities can no longer afford to provide concurrent enrollment instruction for free, according to sponsor Sen. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George. "

"Reduced fares currently offered to senior citizens could increase by at least 50 percent under the proposals. The cost of using The Ride, a door-to-door service for disabled people, also would increase under both proposals."

"Tommila notified the Lee County School District of their new address. Through its program for homeless students, a social worker has helped provide clothes and shoes for the children in the past. The family moved from St. Petersburg in 2010. Tommila has been working full time at a dollar store but it wasn't enough to provide stability."

"`We know that there are more low-income people who have worked outside the mainstream, either as nannies or cleaners or landscapers,' she said. `So there's a great need to help the lowest income elders to get the assistance they need.'"

"Rep. Rayne Brown, R-Davidson, who serves as co-chairwoman of the committee, and Rep. Tim Moffitt, R-Buncombe, who also serves on the committee, also could not be reached to comment on the recommendations.Right now, families can qualify for the NC Pre-K program if they make less than 75 percent of the state median income. For a family a four, that's less than $50,976. The state is considering changing that requirement to 100 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $22,350 for a family of four."

"'You want judicial independence, but you want to balance it with some consistency,' Linarducci said. 'Just because the judges aren't doing anything illegal doesn't mean it's a good system.' About 8.6 million disabled workers nationwide get an average monthly benefit of $1,170. Another 8.2 million low-income disabled people get about $517 a month in Supplemental Security Income."

"One in five Kent County children now lives in poverty and it's causing a bevy of social problems, according to an annual data compilation."

"Though schools have long struggled to close the achievement gap between white and minority students and between low-income and more affluent students, the tougher standards have made closing those gaps even harder. And the tougher standards have shown schools especially weak in math and science, despite a nationwide focus in those areas as the United States tries to shift to a future-minded economy."

"The authors say those numbers are expected increase because developing and implementing such systems is a central component of the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge, the federally funded competitive grant program."

"The measure also would provide $1.5 million in state funds, along with some matching money, to nursing homes and other facilities that provide medical services and other care to low-income people and the disabled in the Medicaid program. That could provide people who work in those facilities a bonus equal to about 5 percent of their annual salaries, Brown said."