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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 9/26/07 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
February 27, 2005 College prep for low-income students at risk Bush budget axes several programs By Cynthia Hodnett
More than 450,000 students nationwide — including about 18,000 in Wisconsin who are in the Upward Bound, Talent Search and GEAR-UP programs — would be affected if the proposal is passed.
The move is a part of an effort by the federal government to cut $4.3 billion from 48 programs in the Department of Education.
Wisconsin would lose about $9.7 million in federal funding if the proposal is approved, according to the Council for Opportunity in Education, an education advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
"It's a huge slap in the face to those in the community that we've made a promise to that we're going to be here to help them access the American dream," said Michael Casbourne, director of the Regional Center for Math and Science at the University of Wisconsin, which provides pre-college instruction to high school students. "Then we have to go back and tell them that the programs won't exist for them in the future."
Federal officials have said cuts are needed to provide more support for President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, which in part calls for states to improve academic achievement for all students and to eliminate achievement gaps between racial, ethnic and income groups.
Government officials argued that there were no adequate figures available to show the progress of each student who has gone through the program or whether it was successful at getting them through college, Casbourne said.
No measuring stick was available because the Department of Education didn't actually start to collect adequate performance data that would show how successful the programs are until 2001, Casbourne said. University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has tracked students in the program since 1993.
Cassandra Nicholson, director of Upward Bound at UWGB, said funding will last through the end of the 2005-06 academic year.
"We will be scrambling to help the students who are here," she said. "There won't be any more recruiting at the high schools."
Students already in the program won't have the guidance that programs like Upward Bound provide, such as tutoring, enrolling in college and filling out financial forms.
"We're aware of what can happen, but we're not going to go down without a fight because this program is important for our students," she said. "There is no one program in the community that offers all the services we offer" such as ACT instruction or an opportunity to live on a campus during the summer.
UWGB officials plan to meet with officials from local school districts on Saturday, Nicholson said. Officials from other programs throughout the country plan to travel to Washington, D.C., in March to meet with government officials, Nicholson said.
"We're not going quietly," Casbourne said. "There are too many young people who count on us to be here, next year, four years from now."
The three pre-college programs up for elimination are part of TRIO — a series of programs created by the federal government more than 40 years ago to provide support services for students in middle school through college. Most of the programs are on college campuses nationwide and not all of them offer the same programs.
UWGB offers Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math and Science and Talent Search while St. Norbert College offers only Upward Bound.
More than 2.2 million students in TRIO programs have graduated from college since the programs began. At least 80 percent of students in TRIO programs at UWGB go on to college, Nicholson said.
Students in the program have to meet several admission requirements including academic performance, desire to attend college and being the first in their family to attend college.
About 440 students in the Green Bay area are currently in Upward Bound and Talent search programs, Nicholson, said. About 65 students from Green Bay East, West and Preble high schools are in Upward Bound at UWGB.
Danielle Freeman, a 16-year-old junior at Green Bay West High School who is in Upward Bound, said the program helped her brother and sister get into college and is now preparing her for that step.
"I never had bad grades but I understand things a lot more," Freeman said. "I don't guess as much any more because I have someone to help me along the way. I know people who've gotten D's and now they moved up to C's and B's.
St. Norbert, which serves several high schools including Seymour, Freedom and Pulaski, currently works with 70 students, said Joycelin Berry, director of Upward Bound at St. Norbert. Berry said not having a support system may hinder students in the program from attending college.
"A lot of these students rely on us to get them into college," she said. "A lot of them don't get support from home."
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