Gephardt Attacks Cuts in Student Aid : Education: House Democratic leader urges Santa Monica College audience to join the fight against the Republican proposal.

Issuing a warning call to California college students, U.S. House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt on Thursday lashed out at Republicans who seek to scale back federal financial aid programs and urged young people to make their voices heard.

Speaking at Santa Monica College, where he was flanked by several Democratic lawmakers from Southern California, Gephardt released a report on the impact of the proposed cuts, which include elimination of interest subsidies for student loans and cuts in various loan, grant and work-study programs.

According to the study, the average California student owes more than $15,000 after four years in college. If Republican lawmakers succeed in their goals, Gephardt warned, the typical undergraduate would see monthly loan payments increase by 22%, resulting in about $4,800 more in total debt.

“These proposals are the most egregious cuts in student loans in over 30 years,” said the Missouri legislator, who stood in front of a banner strung between two ladders that said, “Student Loans--Our Ladder of Opportunity.”

“You need to write letters. You need to make phone calls. Stand up for what you believe in. Stop these insane cuts,” Gephardt said, adding, “I don’t only want to turn the cuts back. I want to make (Republicans) sorry they ever brought it up.”

While most of the specifics have yet to be introduced as legislation, the proposed cuts in financial aid--which would save more than $12 billion over five years--are at the heart of the “contract with America,” the legislative agenda that Republican Congressional leaders are pursuing.

The biggest proposed cut to financial aid would be to the subsidized Stafford loan program, which served 340,000 California students last year. Under that program, the federal government pays the interest that accrues on loans while students are enrolled and for a six-month grace period after they graduate.

Republicans also propose to eliminate the federal work-study program. If they succeed, the study reports, California students will lose more than 65,000 jobs and earnings of $54 million a year.

In recent weeks, students across the nation have protested the proposals with marches, teach-ins and vigils. Last week, students at Cal State Northridge gathered 350 signatures on postcards to be sent to Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), the chairman of the House subcommittee on post-secondary eduction. UCLA students have amassed 500 postcards. And at Stanford University, where more than 2,200 students borrow from federal loan programs, a recent rally drew hundreds of students.

Gephardt has recently been very visible in his support of financial aid programs, appearing at rallies and news conferences in Boston, St. Louis and Washington before his Thursday stop in Santa Monica. Press secretary Dan Sallick said Gephardt plans several other trips over the next six weeks to draw attention to the issue and to urge students to organize.

“Our effort is to . . . let students know that if they get involved, they can stop this from happening,” Sallick said. “We want to make it easier, not harder, for people to go to school. . . . This goes right to the heart of what the Democrats stand for.”

Speaking at Thursday’s news conference, which was attended by an enthusiastic group of about 50 students, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) called the proposed cuts “the dumbest possible decision.” Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) called them “destructive,” and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills) stressed that while she supports cutting the budget, she believes that the Republican assault on financial aid “stresses cost over value.”

Those who seek to cut interest-deferred Stafford loans note that each student would pay only $20 to $40 more a month. But critics counter that for students, even $20 can be a lot of money.