The federal Pell Grant program, which provides aid to 20 percent of the University of Minnesota’s undergraduates, could face $100 billion in cuts over the next 10 years under a budget plan released by President Obama Monday.

Obama’s budget would scale back the program’s spending, which had grown rapidly over the past years to $35 billion as more people returned to college during the recession and aid levels were increased.

The Pell program targets low-income students, who can receive two grants per year worth up to $5,500 – one for the normal academic year and one for summer term. The proposed changes would eliminate the summer grant and also cut subsidies on loans for graduate students in an attempt to save $10 billion annually.

Nearly 7,500 students on the University’s Twin Cities campus  receive a total of about $28 million in aid from the Pell, , and Office of Student Finance director Kris Wright called it the “granddaddy of all the financial aid programs.”