Megan Shinkle is a full-time psychology student at Folsom Lake College. She gets the maximum Pell grant of $5,550 a year. The 21-year-old says she's worried that her check is about to get slashed.

"Honestly, I'm kind of freaking out."

The spending bill already passed by the U.S. House of Representatives cuts Pell grant funding by 15%. That means students like Shinkle would see their grant reduced by $845.

"I would be in a deficit and I wouldn't be able to go to school."

Low-and-middle income community college students get the bulk of Pell grants. Susie Williams is with Sacramento's Los Rios Community College District.

"We have about 24,000 students who depend upon Pell grants to attend our colleges. That's why we're so worried about the discussions occurring at the federal level."

Williams says district officials are hopeful the U.S. Senate will reject the plan to cut the grants.