College students looking to send last-minute internship or graduate school applications will now have to think ahead, as the United States Postal Service recently announced plans to cut next-day service for first-class mail.

In an attempt to reduce its budget deficit, the Postal Service has also proposed ending Saturday delivery and eliminating nearly half of its processing centers.

The post office inside Ackerman Union, however, will be minimally affected by these changes, said Roy Champawat, director of the UCLA Student Union.

The post office on campus is a contract postal unit. It is cost-effective for the U.S. Postal Service because it is funded by Associated Students UCLA, not the federal government, Champawat said.

The cuts in postal delivery will affect individuals sending and receiving mail, but not those in the post office whose job is to take in mail and packages for shipping. Students sending applications for grants, internships or schools should be aware of the changes, but the post office itself will not experience any cutbacks, Champawat said.

Although the post office in Ackerman Union is usually bustling with students shipping packages, mailing checks and sending letters, most students say they don’t often use the post office and are unaware of the proposed changes.

Second-year psychology student Marvison Monserrat said he uses the post office infrequently, but that he occasionally picks up a package at the office in Ackerman. These proposed changes might cause him to consider ordering items such as books for class earlier than usual, he said.

While the cuts have been announced, the U.S. Congress must first approve the changes to the postal service, said Bruce Willison, dean emeritus of the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

The proposals are expected to come to a vote within the next few months, but a date has not been set, so it remains unclear if and when these cuts will go into effect.

“What we’re seeing with the Postal Service is a classic business problem complicated by the fact that they have to adhere to congressional law,” Willison said.

Congressional law does not allow the Postal Service to make cuts or close processing centers. Currently, the Postal Service Commission in Congress is working out a compromise which will eventually come to a vote. The vote will most likely pass and allow the Postal Service to go forward with its plans, Willison said.

Because most Americans now pay their bills online, the Postal Service has seen a 22 percent decrease in the volume of mail over the last five years. This dramatic decline accounts for a $10 billion loss in revenue, Willison said.

The Postal Service needs to increase revenue, but the law does not allow it to raise its prices beyond the inflation rate, he said.

Willison also said the Postal Service could increase the number of services it offers in order to decrease its deficit. Post offices in other countries often serve in other capacities, including selling insurance and other products.

“Congress needs to think more broadly about the future of the Postal Service,” Willison said.

Uday Karmarkar, director of Anderson’s Business and Information Technologies Project, said he believes these cuts are the beginning of a decline for the U.S. Postal Service.

“The Postal Service will most likely decline over the next 10-15 years and be forced to cut many of its delivery services,” he said.

Willison, on the other hand, said he thinks it will remain in business – at least for a while.

“The Postal Service is such an integral American service, I can see it trying to balance its budget for at least another generation,” Willison said.