This amendment provides an extra $30 million a year for Upward Bound grantees that received funds for 2006 but not for 2007. An estimated 21 HBCUs and seven Hispanic-serving institutions lost their Upward Bound grants when the government recently announced the latest program grants, says the Council for Opportunity in Education, a Washington, D.C., group that advocates for TRIO programs.
According to COE, nearly 30 percent of the programs at HBCUs were not re-funded for fall 2007. Nationwide, about 12 percent of past grantees lost their funds.
Under the Scott plan, these HBCUs and HSIs — along with other defunded programs — could retain their grants if they received a score of at least 70 from their grant reviewers.
COE has claimed that recent Upward Bound competitions were flawed because the Education Department did not properly calculate the “prior experience” of some applicants. The council also fought off attempts by the Bush administration in 2005 and 2006 to terminate Upward Bound. Congress ultimately rejected the administration’s requests.
The Scott amendments are now part of the College Cost Reduction Act, which would increase Pell Grants, cut lender subsidies and increase support for minority-serving institutions. The act cleared the House committee by a 30-16 vote on June 13 and is now part of a 2008 budget bill headed for the House floor.
--Charles Dervarics
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