President Bush's 1991-92 proposed education budget sends a deadly but old message to the lower and middle economic classes in this country -- higher education is for the rich only.

Due to shortfalls from previous years and funding cuts in Bush's proposed education budget, not one financial aid program will receive increased funding for the 1991-92 academic school year.

This laissez-faire attitude toward education is unacceptable.

Next year, 445 University students will lose their Pell Grants and thousands of others will have their grants reduced. Furthermore, 145 students will lose their Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant; 363 students will be cut from the College Work Study Employment program; and 302 students will lose their Perkins Loans.

Cuts in these four programs will cause millions of other students nationally to receive little or no financial assistance.

Because the U.S. Congress failed to meet its budget deadline last October, allocations for financial aid programs were frozen. Bush signed the Omnibus Reconciliation Act last December, which freed some of those funds, but still resulted in major losses for financial aid programs.

If this act had not been passed, more budget cuts for education would have occurred automatically. Despite its enactment, the opportunity for higher education is quickly vanishing for millions of students across the nation.

To remedy this situation, Congress is currently considering an informal proposal to shift funding away from the federal Stafford Loan program and funnel it into the Pell Grant program.

Though more grant funding is needed, increasing money for one program should not come at the cost of decreased aid in another.

Part of the Reagan education legacy emphasized loans instead of grants to finance higher education. This shift denies economic access to lower-income students.

To stop the Reagan-Bush doctrine of privileged education, students must first become aware of their rights and then must use them. Government representatives are accountable to their constituents. Write to them. Make your voices and your votes heard.

Quality higher education should be everyone's right, not a privilege enjoyed by a few.