Budget Targets Hispanic-Serving Institutions, College Prep

President Bill Clinton is proposing a modest increase for higher education next year, with Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs)  and the new GEAR-UP for College program among the largest winners.
The budget contains more than a 50 percent increase for the Higher Edu-cation Act (HEA) program for HSIs, as funding would jump from $28 million to $42.3 million, a $14.3 million increase. Vice President Al Gore unveiled the proposal as he pushed a Hispanic education initiative with both K-12 and postsecondary provisions.
"Our initiative will ensure that Hispanic students get the education they need and deserve to thrive in the 21st century," Gore said.
The president's budget, released Feb. 1, also includes a nearly identical $14.2 million increase in the main Title III program for historically Black institutions (HBCUs).  Because of the larger size of the HBCU program, however, the Clinton budget plan would amount to a smaller 10.5 percent gain.
HBCUs would receive $148.7 million under the plan, compared to $134.5 million this year. The budget also contains $32 million for HBCU graduate institutions, a $2 million increase from current funding.
Under HEA, colleges qualify as HSIs if at least 25 percent of their enrollment is Hispanic and half of Hispanic students are from low-income families. But even if Congress agrees to the president's request, the HSI budget would represent only about one-fourth the amount of Title III aid for HBCUs.
The HSI budget plan also is the first proposed by the administration after the HEA debate over the future of federal funding for minority-serving institutions. That debate featured some disagreements between HBCUs and HSIs over how to structure expanded federal aid for Hispanic-serving institutions.
Clinton's plan also contains $6 million for tribally controlled colleges, double the $3 million initial appropriation Congress made last year.
The other major winner, GEAR-UP, would receive twice its first-year budget of $120 million. In GEAR-UP, secondary schools and colleges work together to inform and prepare at-risk youth for college. The Education Department still is writing rules for this grant program, which would increase to $240 million next year under the president's request.
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), a Congres-sional Black Caucus member, helped develop GEAR-UP after viewing the success of similar local programs in his district. The administration says the large 2000 funding increase could provide GEAR-UP funds to one of every six middle schools with significant numbers of poor children.
The linchpin of federal student aid, the Pell Grant program, would receive a modest increase in the president's budget. The expected $125 increase, if enacted, would bring the maximum grant to $3,250 for the neediest students next year. The increase would rank among the smaller gains for the program in recent years.
"A few years ago, a $125 increase would be a cause for celebration," says one lobbyist, who notes that expectations have risen after a busy two-year period in which Congress enacted a HOPE Scholarship and other new programs through HEA.
One of the few new programs in the president's budget is an initiative to promote retention in higher education. A $35 million college-completion, challenge-grant program would help low-income students stay in college and earn a degree, the administration says.
Federal TRIO programs would receive a moderate increase of $30 million in the year 2000 education budget. If enacted into law, the plan would guarantee Upward Bound, Talent Search, and related programs a total of $630 million next year. TRIO had received a $71 million increase in the final 1999 White House/Congress budget agreement.
The budget plan also would increase funds for two campus-based aid programs. The Clinton budget contains $934 million for the college work/study program, up $64 million from current funding. Funding for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants also would increase from $619 million to $631 million next year.
The White House did not propose to cut Perkins Loans, the third campus-based aid program and one that has faced repeated requests for cuts or termination in recent years. The year 2000 budget plan would earmark $130 million, the same as current funding.
Federal funding for civil rights enforcement also would increase by 15 percent, to $663 million, under the budget plan. This figure includes $73 million for the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights, $7 million above current funding. The White House said the department would use the extra money to work with states on civil rights compliance and fund a survey of K-12 school districts.
Elsewhere, the Justice Department's civil rights division would receive $82 million, up $13 million from current funding. The new funds would expand investigations of hate crimes and fair housing issues, while $5 million would go toward a grant program for states to hire additional staff, officials said.
Civil rights offices at the departments of Agriculture, Labor, and Housing and Urban Development also would get small funding increases. The bulk of the civil rights budget, $312 million, would go to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a 12 percent increase above current funding.