Western Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel-WESTOP

TRIO Programs - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Preview Version

is now available at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html#news

and is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, March 23, 2010.

See Dr. Johnson's Dear Grantee Letter.

COE Staff will have updates for all programs in the TRIO community at the Seminar on Relations with the Department of Education on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 at the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel, 999 Ninth Street. More information on registration at www.coenet.us

NO DATE FOR TALENT SEARCH/EOC COMPETITIONS RELEASED. 30 DAY COMMENT PERIOD WILL BE IN EFFECT AS OF MARCH 23rd, then final regulations will be published after comments are compiled and a response is developed by the Department of Education. Only then can a Application for Grants for EOC/TALENT SEARCH be published and a closing date set. Possibly fall 2010.

We have no more information on TRIO competitions at this time (i.e. timing on announcement of funding for SSS) but will post updates on our web site after Dr. Byrd-Johnson, Director of the Federal TRIO Programs speaks at our Seminar on the 24th.

The Latino Completion Gap, Examined
March 18, 2010

With Latino Americans expected to make up more than 20 percent of the college-age population by 2020, most policy makers recognize that it will be nearly impossible to meet President Obama's college completion goals without significant improvement in the graduation rates of Hispanic students, which have long lagged those of other racial and ethnic groups, as numerous studies have documented.

A new analysis digs more deeply into the data surrounding Latino graduation rates, and while it confirms the overall reality that Latino students trail their white peers at all types of institutions, no matter how selective, it also reveals wide variation in the relative success of institutions with similar student bodies. That matters, the authors say, because it shows that the educational practices of institutions matter.

“The data show quite clearly that colleges and universities cannot place all of the blame on students for failing to graduate,” said Andrew P. Kelly of the American Enterprise Institute, who co-wrote the study, "Rising to the Challenge: Hispanic College Graduation Rates as a National Priority," with Mark Schneider of the American Institutes for Research and Kevin Carey of Education Sector.

Because the data are drawn from the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, as are the underlying statistics for most analyses of college graduation rates, the macro-level finding of the new study -- that 51 percent of Latino full-time students nationally earn a bachelor's degree within six years, compared to 59 percent of white students -- is not at all new.

But like the authors' previous study (also funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), "Diplomas and Dropouts," the new one goes beyond that by examining how the rates break down by the level of selectivity of the institutions. (The gap between Latino and white students varies from about 6 percentage points at the most academically competitive institutions to about 8.5 percentage points at non-competitive, open admissions colleges.

The most compelling data, though, show the enormous range in the graduation rates of institutions within those selectivity groupings. Among "competitive colleges" and "very competitive colleges" -- the groupings that include the largest number of Latino students -- the gaps between the institutions with the highest and lowest graduation rates for Hispanic students are more than 50 percentage points.

"To look at this another way, a competitive student enrolled at the school with the highest graduation rate is, on average, more than seven times as likely to receive a bachelor's degree than a competitive student enrolled in the lowest-performing school," the authors write.

And as seen in the table below, enormous variation exists between the 10 colleges with the highest and lowest Latino graduation rates in each of the selectivity categories:

Interestingly, 20 of the 60 top colleges that fall in the top 10 in their category "graduated a higher proportion of Hispanic students than white students," the study found. "In the very competitive and most competitive categories, Hispanic students at the top ten institutions are keeping pace with their non-Hispanic peers. Hispanic students attending the top ten schools in the highly competitive and competitive categories actually graduate at higher rates, on average, than their white classmates."

The authors also find significant variation within those colleges designated by the federal government as Hispanic-serving institutions.

Those findings and others suggest, the authors say, that what institutions do matters. Among the recommendations they make as a result of the data and of interviews with officials at high- and low-performing colleges:

UNLV Celebrates the Success of TRiO and GEAR UP Students
By Peggy Marlow, Director for Marketing and Community Relations

The UNLV TRiO and GEAR UP programs celebrated National TRiO/GEAR UP Day at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino on February 27, 2010. “The Center has been celebrating National TRiO/GEAR UP Day for ten years. The celebration focuses on the accomplishments of The Center’s students,” said William W. Sullivan, associate vice president for retention and outreach and the executive director for The Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach (The Center). Sullivan has been with the TRiO programs at UNLV since 1978. The department at that time served only 50 participants, and today it serves more than 24,000.

Fifteen federally funded programs are housed in The Center, thirteen TRiO and two GEAR UP. The programs are targeted to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to post baccalaureate programs. The TRiO and GEAR UP programs provide academic and career counseling to middle and high school students, high school dropouts and adults entering or re-entering college, as well as to students who are enrolled at UNLV. The Center’s TRiO McNair program prepares students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. The program encourages participants to enroll in graduate programs and then tracks their progress to the completion of advanced degrees.

This year, seven outstanding TRiO and GEAR UP participants, past and present, were recognized for their academic and personal achievements. The audience listened as the honorees shared their stories on how the TRiO and GEAR UP programs changed their lives and their futures. The honorees were: Ricky Gourrier (SSS alumnus), Antonio Gutierrez (McNair alumnus), Daniel W. Scott (AES), Karl Panou (ETS alumnus), Brianda Beltran (GEAR UP Ed Von Tobel MS), and Carlos Hernandez (GEAR UP alumnus).

During the event, The Center recognized Ron Montoya, principal of Valley High School, with the Educational Pioneer Award for his efforts and for going ‘above and beyond’ to support higher education of low-income and first-generation students. Montoya informed the audience that Valley High School was recognized as “Exemplary School Turnaround” in 2008-2009. He commented on the important role The Center plays in at-risk schools like Valley. Montoya contributed The Center’s GEAR UP and TRiO programs as having a major contribution to Valley’s accomplishments.

The event was well attended by more than 700 people. Among those in attendance was Jack Lund Schofield (NHSE regent), Neil Smatresk (UNLV president), Michael Bowers (interim executive vice president & provost), Juanita Fain (vice president for student affairs), Carolyn Edwards (vice president of CCSD board of trustees), and Nicole Wright (representative from Congresswoman Berkley’s office), as well as several principals from the middle and high schools.

Congresswoman Titus attended this year’s event and greeted the audience as she took the stage. Titus made reference to some of the things Congress has done to try and help make college accessible and affordable. For example, interest rates on student loans have been dropped; the maximum amount of the Pell Grant has been increased; and under the income base repayment program borrowers can cap their monthly loan payments based on how much income they have. In addition to that, as the result of the stimulus package which legislators passed over $300,000,000 came to Nevada for education from K-12 through college. She believes that education should be the last thing you should consider touching or cutting not the first. The Congresswoman spoke highly of the TRiO and GEAR UP programs and congratulated all the honorees for their accomplishments and achievements.

Guests enjoyed a sit-down dinner and music from the Gibson Middle School Jazz Band, as well as a Polynesian dances performed by Kaltrina Carter, an Upward Bound student and senior at Desert Pines High School. The mistress of ceremony was Maria Silva, news anchor and reporter from KVBC Channel 3.

GEAR UP and TRiO: Partners in a High School’s “Exemplary Turnaround”
By Larry Letourneau, Director for Research and Compliance (CAEO)

The incredible progress that Valley High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, has made over the past three years—from being a school designated, under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, as “In Need of Improvement (Year 4)” in 2006-2007 to one lauded as “Exemplary Turnaround” in 2008-2009—has been the focus of a spate of articles recently appearing on local media outlets, (See the URLs at the bottom of the page ).

What the press has not reported yet is the major contribution that the GEAR UP and TRiO (Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math and Science, and Talent Search) projects housed in the Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach (CAEO) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) made to Valley’s accomplishment. According to Ron Montoya, principal at Valley High School, much of Valley’s recent success is due to a long-term partnership between Valley and CAEO, through which CAEO’s GEAR UP and TRiO projects supported many creative initiatives that were targeted at specific needs of the school’s student population.

Tomirra Larkin (director for TRiO Talent Search), Principal Montoya, Jill Triplett (UNLV GEAR UP director), and Geannine Jordan (asst. director for TRiO Upward Bound)

For example, CAEO’s GEAR UP and TRiO projects supported online credit-retrieval for Valley students who had previously failed core academic courses and needed a way to catch up with classmates. Similarly, the projects supported after-school classes to help students prepare for the English language arts and mathematics sections of the Nevada High School Proficiency Examination. Additionally, for students learning English as a second language, the projects supported after-school, ELL language classes that were differentiated by language level. About these joint initiatives and several others, Montoya commented, “We found solutions together, CAEO and Valley High School. And we never made excuses.”

In addition to supporting the aforementioned initiatives, CAEO’s GEAR UP and TRiO projects provided Valley students with a wide range and large number of services. For example, since the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year, the projects provided to Valley students a total of 126,825 hours of tutoring or homework assistance. This service was provided to nearly one-half of the school’s student population (specifically, to an average of 1,510 Valley students per year, over a period of time when the number of students averaged 3,033 per year.) Similarly, since 2006, the projects provided to Valley students a total of 4,992 hours of academic advising and career counseling. This service was provided to more than one-third of the school’s student population (specifically, to an average of 1,095 Valley students per year.)

Both the GEAR UP and the TRiO projects work with students from disadvantaged backgrounds to increase their access to and readiness for higher education. However, because all the projects are housed within CAEO, an organizational arrangement that facilitates effective, cross-project collaboration, the projects’ efforts at Valley and other Clark County schools are completely complementary. “In CAEO, all projects work together to create a synergy that has an extremely positive impact on students,” said William Sullivan, Associate Vice President for Retention and Outreach at UNLV and Executive Director of CAEO. “This synergy is both lateral ( i.e. between CAEO’s pre-college projects) and vertical (i.e. between CAEO projects that serve pre-college students and CAEO projects that serve college students),” added Sullivan.

Built in 1965, the year before Caesars Palace first opened its doors, Valley is one of the oldest high schools in Clark County. According to the Nevada Department of Education, in 2008-2009, almost 43% of students attending Valley were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

The Shrunken Student Aid Bill
March 15, 2010

WASHINGTON -- As Congressional Democrats and the White House begin a last-ditch push to pass legislation to overhaul health care this week, it remains far from certain that a plan to revamp the student loan programs will be merged into the health legislation. While the odds of that happening are better than not, it is still possible that Democrat leaders will decide to ditch or postpone action on the student aid measure if they conclude that it could discourage even a few key lawmakers from supporting the health care bill.

But after several intense days of behind-the-scenes negotiations, a few things have become clear(er) about the stripped-down student aid bill that Congress may consider in the coming days:

As of late Sunday, the situation surrounding the health/financial aid legislation remained very fluid. Congressional Democrats and the White House were still scrambling to find ways to make the student aid legislation work financially, and higher education lobbyists whose priorities appeared to be losing out were urging their advocates to make last-minute pleas.
Here's what has happened in the last few days, since we reported last week that the White House and Democratic Congressional leaders were leaning toward linking the student loan overhaul with the health care bill in a process, known as budget reconciliation, that would allow them to pass the legislation with only a majority of lawmakers instead of the 60 votes required under regular Senate rules (presented with the caveat that all of this is subject to change in the coming hours and days):

The most significant development was the decision by Sen. Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who heads the Senate Budget committee, to use the more recent and lower estimate provided by the Congressional Budget Office of the savings that would be generated by the student loan overhaul. The White House and Congressional Democrats had counted on producing $87 billion in revenue over 10 years by ending the lender-based Federal Family Education Loan Program and initiating all federal student loans out of the competing Direct Loan Program.

The administration had won support for (or at least minimized opposition to) that move from the two-thirds of colleges that participate in the lender-based loan program by planning to spread that $87 billion to a wide range of popular priorities: a huge boost and a permanent, steady stream of funds for the Pell Grant Program, a massive new grant program (combined with high-profile visibility) for two-year colleges, an expansion and remaking of the Perkins Loan Program, and a new $3 billion "Access and Completion Fund" designed to reward states and institutions that found ways to increase degree production.

But in the months since the House of Representatives approved the Obama student loan plan as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act last fall, increases in the number of colleges switching to the direct loan program (because of the pending legislation) had the effect of reducing the estimate of savings that would be produced by the full-blown abandonment of the lender-based program, to $67 billion over 11 years ($61 billion over 10 years), instead of the original $87 billion.

At the same time, the huge numbers of students flooding into higher education because of the economic downturn -- and the fact that so many Americans find themselves in worse financial shape -- have sent sky-high the projected costs of the administration's plan to increase the maximum Pell Grant and tie future increases in it to changes in the Consumer Price Index plus 1 percentage point. Those developments have also created a massive shortfall in the Pell program for the current 2010 fiscal year and next year -- money (roughly $19 billion) that Congress must find a way to cover at some point, if not through this measure.

Those economic assumptions have wreaked havoc on the legislation's bottom line (budget reconciliation bills must be cost-neutral to the government, meaning they must produce enough in savings to offset their costs). So what should have been good news for the measure and its supporters -- the decision to release it from its months-long purgatory by conjoining it with the health reform legislation in the process known as budget reconciliation -- has had negative implications as well.

Given that health reform is the Obama administration's absolute No. 1 domestic priority, many Democratic lawmakers have been wary of linking the student loan legislation to the health care bill, for fear that opposition to the loan provisions could discourage even a handful of lawmakers from supporting the overall twinned measure (and potentially sinking health reform). Some have also been swayed, or at least made cautious, by loan industry and Republican assertions that the Obama plan would kill thousands of jobs or put colleges that can't make the switch to direct lending in time (and their students) in harm's way.

But the bill's most visible Senate supporter, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa (who with Rep. George Miller of California has argued passionately for the legislation), reportedly helped persuade his colleagues to link the two measures with a heartfelt speech at a Democratic caucus lunch on Thursday warning that without passing the legislation, Congress could find itself in the uncomfortable position of actually having to cut the size of Pell Grants for existing students by about half. That's because the maximum grant for the last two years has been raised (and arguably inflated) by funds from a 2007 budget reconciliation legislation and last year's economic stimulus package; without that money, which the current SAFRA bill would essentially replace and supplement, the maximum grant would tumble.

That fact aside, part of what led Democratic leaders (at least to this point in time) to combine the two bills is the reality that the health care legislation, standing on its own, cannot produce enough budgetary savings to meet a requirement in last spring's budget resolution that it reduce the deficit.

So a major element of what made it attractive for Democrats to incorporate the student loan provisions into the health legislation -- the fact that they could use some of the billions generated by the loan changes to meet deficit reduction requirements -- is likely to result in even less money being available for students and colleges if the legislation ultimately passes.

What's In the Bill (as of Now)

Democrats have had to get their knives out to get the student loan measure's costs under the $61-billion-over-10-years ceiling. Some of the casualties -- like $8 billion for early childhood education, and $4 billion for school modernization -- didn't trouble college leaders a bit, as they quietly opposed using savings from the student loan programs for those non-college purposes all along.

But some of the other cuts would prove enormously painful. Foremost among them is the apparent excision of the entire American Graduation Initiative, which would pour as much as $12 billion over 10 years into grants and construction funds for community colleges. President Obama has put two-year institutions at the center of his higher education agenda, a major change from previous administrations, and the American Graduation Initiative was designed not just to provide more money to the colleges, but to link the money to a set of quality indicators aimed at increasing accountability demands on them.

The American Association of Community Colleges sent out an "urgent alert" to its members via e-mail on Friday, warning of the initiative's possible demise and asking them to call their Congressional representatives.

David S. Baime, the association's vice president for government relations, expressed dismay over the program's seeming fate, noting that two-year colleges "have been planning around this program" and that the institutions "were openly embracing a program that required a new kind of accountability toward the federal government" (a stance that troubled representatives of other sectors of higher education, especially those at independent institutions, who feared that the approach of tying federal money to a set of indicators determined by the government could become a staple of other federal aid programs).

Also missing from the final legislation, as of now, is the administration's plan to revamp the Perkins Loan Program, through which it hoped to institute accountability provisions that would reward colleges that enrolled and graduated significant numbers of low-income students.

In setting their priorities for what to do with the $61 billion available through SAFRA, Democrats have put the Pell Grant atop the list, and about $50 billion of the bill's spending would go to the program, including paying off some but not all of the program's shortfall for 2010. But because of the grants' exploding price tag, even that vast infusion of money won't go nearly as far as the Obama administration had originally hoped. The legislation that is likely to start moving its way through Congress today would, as planned, link increases in the maximum Pell Grant to the Consumer Price Increase.

But Democrats have dropped the idea of adding 1 percentage point to that increase annually, amid other changes that would leave the maximum grant at no more than $6,400 by 2019, rather than the $6,800 originally envisioned.

Besides the Pell Grant funds, the rest of the $61 billion would go toward providing grant funds for historically black and Hispanic-serving colleges (roughly $2 billion to $3 billion), extending a program created in 2007 that gives grants to colleges and others for improving students' access to college (the administration would be forced to abandon its plans for revamping that program into a bigger and broader one that would hold grant recipients accountable for innovations that help students graduate from college), and giving students more options for repaying their loans, including tying the size of their payments to their income.

In addition, as much as $5 billion would be set aside to meet the deficit reduction requirements for both the education and health care portions of the budget reconciliation legislation.

The next steps for the legislation this week: The Congressional Budget Office will release a revised accounting (or "score") of the budget bill late today or tomorrow, which will make clear the exact cost and savings of the legislation and determine once and for all whether the numbers add up -- and what's in or out.

— Doug Lederman
source: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/03/15/safra

March 9, 2010

Dear TRIO Colleagues:

COE Director of Congressional Affairs, Kimberly Jones, talk on the radio about COE's push to increase funding for TRIO programs to better support low-income, first-generation students. Kimberly talks about President Obama's budget request to level-fund TRIO, which will force program practitioners to stretch the same dollars as they have for the last several years. Below is a complete listing of stations airing the interviews. Recordings of all interviews will be made available soon.

Ohio News Network (Ohio)
Wisconsin Radio Network (Wisconsin)
WNCO-FM (Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH)
WCMY-AM (Chicago, IL): Live interview at 9:45 AM
WSPL-AM (Chicago, IL): Live interview at 10:10 AM
WPWX-FM (Chicago, IL)
Metro Networks (Northern California)

Clips from today’s media tour are now available online at http://www.radionewssource.com/Scripts/trioprograms.htm. Local radio airings will be posted as they become available. Please share this link and spread the word about the need for more support for TRIO in FY2011!

Sincerely,

Heather Valentine
COE

From: trio-list-bounces@uwm.edu
Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 3:10 PM
To: Trio-list@uwm.edu
Subject: [Trio-list] TRIO on the Airwaves

March 8, 2010

Dear TRIO Colleagues:

Tune in to your local radio station tomorrow to hear

Sincerely,

Heather Valentine
COE

Council for Opportunity in Education (Meeting w/Heather Valentine) Notes:
Prepared and Transcribed by Annette Dennett, PACT, Inc.
March 1, 2010

During the Annual WESTOP Conference, I, with some fellow colleagues, met with Heather Valentine from COE. In attendance were Emalyn Lapus (AACE Talent Search), Sue Huizinga (Boise State UP/ETS), Loretta Enriquez-Najera (Long Beach State ETS), and Norris Sanders (Educational Guidance Center). Here are the notes for your records:

*As we have already heard, the “UB fiasco” projects losing $57 million, the ETS dilemma is a bit trickier to defend in the eyes of Congress, considering that there are no concrete numbers to present.

*Rigorous Curriculum:
-TRiO will most likely have 30 days to comment when the regulations come out (some time in the next couple of weeks???)

-There is a debate as to whether we should try to write out this requirement completely (this would be difficult) or stick with a feasible percentage. Heather mentioned that we may not want to opt for writing this out, as this may convey the message that TRiO does not support higher expectations for our students. Instead, we should continue to ask for more money with solid figures as to how much we would need per student while also pleading the case that a lack of funding will force us to lower the number of students that we serve.

*Post-Secondary Tracking:
Heather is pretty confident that this requirement may be written out during commenting period.

*Plan of Action:
-We need to talk about ETS as benefiting LARGE numbers of students. We are not UB, and we should therefore, not be put in a predicament where we have to scale down our numbers.

-We need to talk about the number of students that we currently serve and make the case for how many students will need to be “cut” if we are required to track rigorous curriculum with no increase in funding. Congress needs to see actual figures.

-Heather Valentine is setting up meetings to meet with Congressman Honda to advocate for ETS.

-Sue Huizinga suggested that Heather possibly give us tips regarding a possible model of how we would recruit and provide services for students that we would need to track for the rigorous curriculum/post-secondary tracking requirements.

-Heather will hopefully schedule more conference calls for the week of March 8, 2010.

In an effort to be of greater service to our grantees, the TRIO division at the Department of Education has begun compiling information that we believe can be useful to you. The division’s goal is to highlight particular policy, different tools being utilized by the TRIO community and to answer questions often asked by Directors that could be beneficial to the community at large. As Directors, you can expect to hear more from our office periodically or as important policy updates are available.

I want to take a moment and highlight just how busy we have been here in TRIO in the summer and fall. We issued 3,040 grant awards totaling $915 million aimed at creating access and success for America’s neediest youth. While many of you often get concerned about the timing of your new and non-competing continuation awards for the coming year, please know that our office works very hard to get these out as early as possible before the start of your programs’ fiscal year. It is important, however, to be aware that the timing of these awards often depends on the release of funding from the Treasury, as well as the need for our division to provide any final oversight to projects of concern before awards can be released. As always, if you have specific questions or concerns prior to receiving your award, you may contact your Program Specialist with any inquiries.

Also, I am excited to note that the TRIO team is growing. In the last year, we have taken on 6 new team members who have been working very hard to learn the ins and outs of TRIO from the more seasoned veteran members of our team. Please be patient as we continue, as a staff, to grow and learn.

We want to continue to offer our assistance in any and every way possible. Please do not hesitate to call or email your Program Specialist with your questions or needs. We are working harder than ever to be of better service to our community. By being your voice within the Department, TRIO can ensure that we are all working together to reach our goal of achieving access and success in postsecondary enrollment, as well as, persistence and graduation from postsecondary programs for students and participants.

Sincerely,

Linda Byrd-Johnson, Ph. D.
Director, Federal TRIO Programs

Dr. Linda Byrd-Johnson spoke at the recent WESTOP conference in Long Beach. Below are a few notes taken...  

SSS Grant:  The Department of Education is planning to hire more staff in the next few weeks to help with workload.   They are working on the SSS grant and plan to have the review done by March 26th.  

Workshops:  Talent Search and EOC technical assistance workshops will likely be offered in late spring early summer. Check the website for more information.  

UB & McNair Competitions:  They are looking to delay the McNair and Upward Bound competitions until 2012. A request has been made to delay all but classic UB. They are waiting to hear if the request was approved. The request was made for an additional $57 million to extend the UB grants until 2012.  

Continuation Funds:  The department will be reviewing GAPS for carry forward funds. Programs will be contacted if they show carry forward funds and asked to provide an explanation.   When the department is looking at providing continuation funds they expect at least 85% of the proposed students to be served. If you do not serve at least 85% you may receive reduced or no funding.   

Annual Performance Reports:  SSS & EOC 99.4% submitted on time; McNair 98.4% submitted on time; Upward Bound 99% submitted on time; TS Unknown  

Educational Access Workgroups:  Dr. Linda Byrd-Johnson has been invited by the Obama administration to attend workgroup discussions on educational access.  

TRiO Updates:  TRiO updates will be sent by e-mail addressing questions and keeping everyone up-to-date. The first update went out in February, the next update is anticipated for April.  

Resources for Upcoming Writers:  American Youth Policy Forum (honorable mention of TS) Pell Institute Reports Alliance for Excellence

Respectfully,  Donelle D. Davis 
Chapter President NorCal WESTOP and President-Elect 
(530) 754-8410 office (916) 792-7650 cell 
ddperkins@ucdavis.edu

Yesterday, Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the House Education and Labor Committee to discuss how strong and innovative education reforms can help rebuild the U.S. economy and restore our competitiveness, particularly in the context of the Administration's FY2011 budget request. During the hearing, both Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) questioned the Secretary about the Administration's commitment to TRIO. Congressman Payne, co-chair of the TRIO Congressional Caucus, asked Secretary Duncan to explain how TRIO fit into President Obama's goal to emerge first in the world for college completion by the year 2020. Meanwhile, Congressman Scott revisited the issue of Upward Bound funding, which he raised during last week's House Budget Committee hearing.

Please thank Congressmen Payne and Scott for their continued advocacy on behalf of TRIO!

What Now for Student Aid Bill?
March 8, 2010

WASHINGTON -- For months, legislation to restructure the student loan programs and bolster Pell Grants, community colleges and other priorities has been held hostage as the Obama administration and Congressional leaders wrangled over health care.

Now, with Democrats having decided to push health care through Congress with or without Republican support, the possible paths forward for the student aid measure are a little clearer -- but they don't necessarily bode well for its immediate passage, according to several Congressional aides, college lobbyists, and other Congress watchers interviewed for this article.

First, some background. If you remember, the House of Representatives in September passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which would cease all lending from the bank-based Family Federal Education Loan Program and redirect the resulting savings into Pell Grants, community college aid, early childhood education, and other programs.

The bill seemed like a fait accompli last fall, given the political popularity of financial aid for college students and the diminished political backing for student loan providers. But despite near-constant rumors that the logical next step in the process -- the introduction of a parallel bill in the Senate -- was imminent, days stretched into weeks and then into months without it actually happening.

Many factors probably contributed to that delay, but foremost among them, by far, was the student loan legislation's relationship to health care reform. This is where the civics lesson comes in.

Each year Congress enacts a budget for the operations of the federal government. Every so often -- particularly when Congress faces large deficits or otherwise wants to make major changes in law to change the shape and structure of federal spending -- it also engages in the optional process known as "budget reconciliation," which requires individual Congressional committees to draft legislation that changes federal entitlement spending or revenue by a specified amount. (Descriptions of the process can be found here, on the Web site of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and here, directly from the House Rules Committee.)

Reconciliation legislation differs from other spending measures in multiple ways, but most importantly because it can be passed in the Senate by just 50 favorable votes, compared to the 60 needed to end a filibuster on normal legislation.

In its budget resolution for 2010, Congress opened the door for the use of the reconciliation process for both health care and student loan reform. Doing so essentially linked the fate of the two pieces of legislation in one key way: Because Congress can approve only one piece of budget reconciliation legislation per annual budget resolution, the White House and Congressional supporters of health care reform wanted to retain the possibility that if they couldn't pass health reform legislation through normal means, they could use reconciliation as a fallback.

Now, with Democrats having lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and the prospect of bipartisan agreement on health legislation in the rear-view mirror, President Obama has signaled that he plans to use budget reconciliation to pass health care.

Under the plan laid out by the White House last week, the House would pass a version of the Senate-passed health care legislation, with the expectation that Democratic leaders in the House and Senate would then (with the White House) reach agreement on a second piece of legislation that would contain "fixes" to the Senate health care bill designed to ease the concerns of House Democrats who think the Senate bill was tilted too much toward gaining Republican votes that never materialized.

What does any of that have to do with student loans? Because the Democrats no longer have 60 sure votes in the Senate, they would have to pass the second piece of health care legislation through the budget reconciliation process -- where it would be attached to the student aid bill.

(Word is that the Senate will not introduce its own version of the SAFRA bill; according to several people familiar with the situation, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate have reached agreement with White House officials on a version of the legislation that would be merged with the health reform bill.)

In one way, these developments would seem, finally, after months of delay tied to uncertainty over the passage of health reform, to clear the way for passage of SAFRA. Health care reform is far and away the Obama administration's top legislative priority, and the administration seems to have decided that it is ready to push aggressively for passage of the legislation, political consequences be damned. So to the extent that student loan reform is linked to that top priority, SAFRA seems like it is finally on line to be taken up and considered.

But that same dynamic could also work against the student aid legislation. Because health care reform is the administration's top priority, White House officials are likely to walk away from anything that stands between them and passage of the health bill. So if they were to decide that opposition to the student aid changes might prevent meaningful numbers of Congressional lawmakers from supporting the combined health care/student aid legislation in budget reconciliation, Congress watchers say, SAFRA could find itself put off once again.

Diverging Views of SAFRA

What is the state of political support for the student aid legislation? Is it likely that a majority of House and Senate members back the measure?

Democrats voted overwhelmingly for SAFRA when the bill passed the House in September by a vote of 253 to 171, with just nine Democrats opposing the bill or not voting at all. But at least one of the Democrats who opposed the bill -- Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania -- was among the Democrats in the narrow majority of 220 who supported the House version of the health care legislation in November. In explaining his opposition to the student loan bill, Kanjorski argued that the legislation would take away jobs that Sallie Mae had created in his district. (Critics note that Kanjorski is also among the leading recipients of Sallie Mae's campaign contributions.)

At the time the House voted on SAFRA in September, the student loan industry had just begun ramping up its opposition to the bill, and promoting an alternative that would make some of the same changes but sustain a role for non-government lenders in originating loans. But the passage of months since then have given lenders and their supporters much more time to make their case on the jobs issue and others. In the meantime, columns deriding the student loan plan as a "government takeover" of the student loan industry were designed to resonate with criticism of the Obama health plan as socialized medicine.

Changes in the economy and the federal budget picture have also begun to conspire against the administration's plan. Because so many people are returning to college (as often happens during a recession), the projected cost of the Pell Grant Program, and of SAFRA's proposal to tie annual increases in the maximum grant to the inflation rate, have sent the price tag of the SAFRA plan soaring.

And on Friday, the Congressional Budget Office's new accounting (known in Washington parlance as a "score") of the administration's 2011 budget proposal dropped its assessment of the amount that the federal government would save by shifting all lending to the government's Direct Loan Program to $67 billion, from the $87 billion on which the administration has counted. "[R]eplacing the guaranteed loan program by providing additional direct loans would, by CBO’s estimates, yield budgetary savings totaling $67 billion over the 2011–2020 period," the budget office wrote.

That is significant because it means the bill would produce less money to do the many things that the administration and Congressional Democrats want -- the CBO score calculates the cost of the programs the bill would create or expand at $200 billion.

Until Congress passes a budget resolution for the 2011 fiscal year, Democratic leaders have some leeway in deciding which set of budget numbers to use for the student loan portion of the reconciliation bill, so they could choose to embrace the $87 billion figure rather than the $67 billion score. But that decision rests mainly in the hands of Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who heads the Senate Budget Committee and is a well-known budget hawk. He is likely to feel significant pressure to use the more up-to-date -- and presumably more accurate -- numbers.

There is another way in which the delay in passing SAFRA may have hurt the legislation's chances. Since last fall, some opponents of the administration's loan restructuring have expressed concerns that it would put colleges in a bind if it forced them to quickly change their process for delivering loan funds from the lender-based program to the direct loan program.

Administration officials have engaged in a months-long argument with loan company officials over whether it is fair to expect colleges to make the move to direct lending before Congress has passed legislation requiring them to do so. Some college financial aid administrators, urged on by lenders, have accused administration officials of playing politics, treating the shift to direct lending as a done deal.

Education Department officials (often supported by college financial aid leaders) have encouraged colleges to prepare themselves for the change even if they stop short of making the full-blown switch, noting that even if Congress does not pass the Obama plan, the 2008 law that provided federal money to prop up the lender-based loan program will expire by July, essentially gutting the program.

Late last week, both of Tennessee's senators and seven of its nine House members -- including three of its five Democrats -- wrote a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan urging him to support an extension of the 2008 law, known as the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, warning that failure to do so could create "major and negative implications for millions of students and thousands of institutions of higher education for the upcoming academic year."

The letter was the latest in a growing selection from Democratic lawmakers questioning the administration's student aid legislation, including from Delaware's two senators and Indiana's Evan Bayh, among others.

It's too early to say whether the critiques represented in those letters and others that may be yet to come might be enough to derail the administration's student aid legislation. But the most serious threat could be if White House officials become convinced that opposition to the student loan legislation could be a liability to health care reform -- their top priority.

— Doug Lederman

Dear Colleague,

In December 2009, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the National Financial Capability Challenge. <http://challenge.treas.gov/index.htm> They said that along with getting the economy back on track and getting smarter about financial regulation, we also need to make sure all Americans – but especially our youth – get the financial education they need to help them take responsibility for their financial futures. Treasury and Education are committed to working together on this issue. The Challenge – an awards program for educators and high schools students that aims to encourage the teaching of personal finance – is our first step in a new partnership.

An earlier version of the Challenge was organized by Treasury under the previous administration, and this expanded effort builds on that success.

Our goal is to get one million high school students to take the Challenge, which includes a voluntary online exam, by April 9, 2010. To make that happen, we’ll need thousands of educators from across the country to register and get their students prepared. Two thousand educators have already signed up. It’s a good start, but we have a long way to go.
We’re writing to ask for your help.

Will you please support our effort to reach out to high school teachers and leaders – and other educators working with high school students age 13-19, such as librarians, youth group leaders, and after-school program staff – to encourage them to sign up for the Challenge at challenge.treas.gov <http://challenge.treas.gov/index.htm> by March 14?

We’re encouraging educators to take these steps:

Upward Bound director Granados wins top regional honor
February 22, 2010 – 12:16 PM

Fresno State Upward Bound staffg

Martina Granados, director of California State University, Fresno’s Upward Bound and English Language Learner Upward Bound programs, is the recipient of the Western Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel’s highest award.

Granados has worked with Upward Bound programs at Fresno State since 1991 and was appointed the director in 2001. Upward Bound assists low-income, first-generation, college-bound students to further their education beyond high school.

A native of Mexico, she attended high school in Chowchilla, arriving at Fresno State through the university’s College Assistance Migrant Program and Educational Opportunity programs. Granados made the most of her opportunities, earning a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and a master’s in counseling from Fresno State as well as pupil personnel services and administrative credentials.

“It’s a privilege to work at Fresno State, which remains committed to being accessible to the broadest group of students possible and helps low-income and underrepresented youth prepare themselves for a successful college experience,” said Granados.
“Our future lies in the hands of the students we serve and we have to make every effort to help them build successful careers in service to our region and beyond by assuring that they will be good stewards,” she added.

Granados said her future holds more of the same: “I want to continue serving and encouraging young people – many of whom (like me) are the first in their families to attend college – to further their education and take advantage of the opportunities offered to them so they can have a better life.”

Upward Bound programs, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, provide students supplemental instructional activities and assistance to acquire the academic skills and motivation to succeed in high school and prepare for college, said Granados.

Fresno State Upward Bound serves students at Edison, Fresno and Roosevelt high schools in the Fresno Unified School District and at Sanger and Madera high schools.

Granados will accept the Steve Holeman Award on Tuesday, March 2, at the association’s 2010 conference, which begins Sunday, Feb. 28, in Long Beach.

The Holeman Award honors the memory of one of the Western association’s founders. It recognizes a director’s dedication to educational excellence and equity, concern for developing students’ potential and example of professional administration.

Association members are from American Samoa, Arizona, California, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Nevada, Northern Mariana Islands and Palau.
The conference is an opportunity for Granados and her team’s professional development and training and to hear updates on federal TRIO programs that provide resources to open educational opportunities for disadvantaged and underrepresented students.

February 10, 2010

Dear Upward Bound and Talent Search Colleagues:

In his FY2011 budget request to Congress, President Obama recommended level-funding TRIO. However, the Administration has confirmed that this does not include continued funding for the nearly 200 Upward Bound projects funded through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA). The Department has also announced its plans to host a grant competition for Classic Upward Bound this year. (Competitions for Upward Bound Math-Science and Veterans Upward Bound will still be held in 2011.) A complete explanation of this funding crisis appears on our website <http://www.coenet.us/ecm/AM/Template.cfm?Section=FY2011_Budget_Crisis> .

Ultimately, it is clear that without increased funding from Congress in FY2011, nearly 200 Upward Bound programs will be lost after the next academic year.

If approved by Congress, this lack of an increase in the Obama Budget will also have significant consequences for Talent Search as:

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