SINCE 1981
NEWS & EVENTS
BULLETIN BOARD
President Level Funds TRIO and Gear Up in
FY2015 Budget Request to Congress
(March 4, 2014)
Dear TRIO Colleagues:
Today, President Obama released his FY 2015 budget request to Congress, in which he requested $838.8 million in funding for TRIO, which is equivalent to the funding appropriated by Congress in FY 2014. (The President also requested level-funding for GEAR UP at $301.6 million.) I
n contrast to the President’s budget request, the TRIO community will be fighting for an increase of $52 million to support an overall appropriation of $890 million in FY 2015. This will support a 10% increase in the number of students served in the Student Support Services grant competition, which will take place this year, as well as a 3% overall increase for all existing programs.
However, this will be an uphill battle as the House Budget Committee recently released a report entitled The War on Poverty: 50 Years Later, which criticizes several key programs of that era, such as Head Start and TRIO, as “ineffective” and duplicative. As this report will formulate the basis of the House Republican budget plan for FY 2015, the entire TRIO community must arm itself with data about their programs’ effectiveness. In preparation for the Policy Seminar, all participants are strongly encouraged to pull data from their most recent annual performance reports and be prepared to share information not only about how many students they are serving and where, but how those students are performing (e.g., good academic standing, persistence from year to year, etc.); enrollment, transfer, and completion rates; and other relevant information.
Sincerely,
Kimberly A. Jones, Esq.
Vice President for Public Policy
Council for Opportunity in Education
1025 Vermont Avenue, N.W., Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005
Office: 202.347.7430 ext. 379 Direct:202.347.9362
Mobile: 202.489.6745 Fax: 202.347.0786
Omnibus Passes; TRIO Funds Restored!
(January 22, 2014)
In mid-January 2014, legislators came together to pass the FY 2014 omnibus appropriations bill that restored $1.6 billion in sequester cuts to the U.S. Department of Education. In particular, this provided a $42 million increase for TRIO, which will restore 95% of the funding lost to sequestration during Program Year 2014-2015. Ultimately, TRIO and GEAR UP landed among just a handful of programs in the U.S. Department of Education that received nearly full restoration of the funds cut by sequestration.
The good news of the omnibus bill was quickly followed by a series of events at which the issues of college access and success took center stage. First, on January 16, 2014, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hosted a roundtable, “Strengthening Federal Access Programs to Meet 21st Century Needs — A Look at TRIO and GEAR UP.” The roundtable featured testimonies from COE President Maureen Hoyler as well as 2013 National TRIO Achiever Cornelius Griggs and Hibbing Community College Upward Bound Director Tallie Sertich. The work of TRIO advocates in the field was evident as several Members of the Committee expressed strong knowledge and support of TRIO programs in their lines of questioning. This roundtable serves as a starting point for the consideration of both TRIO and GEAR UP issues in the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. (A video of the roundtable and copies of panelists’ remarks are available here.)
Later that day, COE President Maureen Hoyler went to the White House to participate in a convening of college presidents, non-profit and philanthropic organizations, private sector partners, and others to discuss promising models for increasing access for low-income students. In their remarks, both the President and the First Lady emphasized their personal commitments to the issue of low-income student success. In an accompanying report, Increasing College Opportunity for Low-Income Students (.pdf), the White House cataloged the commitments of COE and other stakeholders to this mission. Additionally, in their statements of commitment (.pdf), several institutions highlighted the work of TRIO programs on their campuses as examples of ways that they are already succeeding in the areas of college access and success.All in all, these events represent a strong recognition of the critical work of our programs and students. They set the stage for even more success in the year to come.
COE Rings Bell on the New York Stock Exchange
(January 3, 2014)
On Friday, January 3, 2014, the Council for Opportunity in Education rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. This is an important recognition by many in our country’s financial community of the critical importance college access and success for low-income and first-generation students, and the TRIO programs, play in assuring America’s economic future.
In addition to ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange, the COE delegation was honored with the presentation of a medallion, presented by Stefan Jekel, NYSE Euronext’s New York-Based Team Member, prior to the opening. The COE group was then taken to the floor where they met floor traders and toured the area. TRIO directors and administrators, TRIO students, and TRIO alumni were among the group who attended and stood on the NYSE platform — Susan J. Ott, McNair Director, University at Buffalo, and President of AEEE; Paula Martin, Executive Director, Harlem Center for Education; Michelle Danvers Foust, Director, TRIO Pre-Collegiate Programs, Bronx Community College; Lalla Green, Upward Bound and Talent Alumna, and Curriculum Coordinator, Bronx Community College; Bryan Caraballo, Participant, Bronx Community College Talent Search Program; Noah Morton, Freshman, Amherst College and Graduate, Harlem Center for Education; Maureen Hoyler, President, Council for Opportunity in Education; and Dr. Arnold Mitchem, President Emeritus, Council for Opportunity in Education.
