Making it harder for you and your friends: The LA Times has a great editorial today calling Congress to task for the recent vote in the House of Representatives for an unprecedented cut in student aid.

Here's an excerpt:

The House last month voted to slash funding for federal student loan programs by $14.3 billion, reversing decades of expansion that have helped open the country's most expensive universities to poor and middle-class students. The House's cuts would add about $5,800 to the average $17,500 student loan debt, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The cuts couldn't come at a worse time. According to the nonprofit College Board, average tuition and fees at public universities have surged 40% over the last five years. The median family income has crept up just 16% over that period. And early this year, the U.S. Department of Education tweaked its eligibility formula for Pell Grants, an assistance program for low-income students. That eliminated aid to more than 80,000 students and reduced awards to about 1.5 million others.

The piece then talks about how the House and the Senate will have to reconcile their two different versions, referring to the Senate version as not good but the "lesser evil."

The conclusion of the editorial: "If the House has its way, this Congress could be remembered as the one that priced middle-class families out of college."