HEA Press Conference

LULAC Higher Education Act Press Conference

Remarks by Belen Robles

Thank you for attending this press conference today to discuss the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and the League of United Latin American Citizens' efforts to include language to this bill that will help to ensure that the needs of Hispanic Americans are adequately addressed by Federal higher education programs.

The League of United Latin American Citizens has a long track record of promoting educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans. LULAC is the oldest and largest Hispanic organization in the United States. Since 1929, we have worked to increase the number of Hispanic students graduating from secondary and post secondary schools. Our LULAC National Scholarship Fund, started in 1930, has awarded more than $20 million dollars to deserving college students. In the 1950's LULAC created the Little School of 400 to teach Hispanic preschoolers 400 English words to prepare them for school. This program became the model for Headstart during the Johnson administration. The LULAC National Educational Service Centers (LNESC), a network of 15 counseling centers, works with more than 16,000 students a year, encouraging them to stay in school, graduate and enroll in college.

In fact, the LNESC Network is the single largest provider of Talent Search program services-which is one of the key programs of the Higher Education Act's TRIO programs. The TRIO programs seek to increase the college participation of low income, first-generation college students.

LNESC serves 16,000 students a year out of approximately 633,000 students served by all TRIO programs. Almost 95,000 TRIO students are Hispanic. LNESC alone provides services to about 20% of the Hispanic students served by TRIO. And yet, LNESC's grant of approximately $2.3 million dollars is less than 1% of the $500 million dollars in the Fiscal Year 1998 appropriations for TRIO.

Hispanic students are extremely underrepresented in the TRIO programs. While Hispanic students comprise approximately 29% of eligible TRIO students, only 16% are Hispanic. In fact, the actual extent of underrepresentation is even worse because Census figures do not include Puerto Rico in national poverty and educational attainment figures. In contrast, the Department of Education does include students served by Puerto Rican TRIO projects when reporting the number of Hispanic students served by TRIO.

If we want to compare apples with apples, we should include students living in Puerto Rico when determining our TRIO eligibility rate.

The number one reason that the TRIO program has lagged behind demographic changes is this: Existing TRIO projects have a huge advantage over new projects in the competition for TRIO funds because they receive 15 prior experience points that are almost automatically added to their proposal scores. In other words, a new TRIO project would have to score more than 15 points higher out of a possible 100 points in a TRIO proposal in order to be funded over an existing project. Since current TRIO regulations do not provide for any considerations to projects serving underrepresented populations or underserved geographic areas, it is not surprising that the racial and geographic composition of TRIO has changed little over the last 30 years. This has got to change.

That is why LULAC strongly supports H.R. 2495, the Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century Act, introduced by Congressman Ruben Hinojosa with the support of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. This bill changes TRIO regulations to provide new projects with up to 15 additional points on their proposal score if they serve underrepresented populations. In addition, the Secretary of Education would consider the degree to which programs would serve population groups with high secondary school dropout rates when awarding Talent Search and Upward Bound grants.

In effect H.R. 2495 would help level the playing field between new TRIO proposals serving underrepresented populations and existing projects. Even so, existing projects would retain a large advantage because of the experience they developed while conducting the project. In fact, only a few low scoring existing TRIO projects that probably shouldn't receive funding are likely to lose their funding because of the changes in H.R. 2495.

Why would LULAC, the largest single TRIO grantee, risk the inherent advantage of prior experience points by supporting H.R. 2495? Quite simply. It is the only fair and just thing to do. The TRIO programs were meant to be targeted to the students that need them most and we are not about to let our own institutional interests get in the way of equality of opportunity.

Why do some of the other existing TRIO projects oppose H.R. 2495? Because it is in their own self interest to do so and for no other reason.

Rarely is Congress presented with such an easy decision. They can do the right thing and incorporate the provisions of H.R. 2495 in the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and begin to ensure that all populations and geographic areas are served according to their need, OR they can support the status quo, continue the disparity and inequality of the existing system, and keep the project directors of the existing TRIO projects happy and complacent. Let's hope that Congress does the right thing by ignoring the lobbying efforts of special interests groups' intent on preserving their funding and instead voting in favor of equality of opportunity by incorporating the provisions of H.R. 2495 in the final version of the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Thank you for your attention, I would now like to turn the microphone over to Marilyn McAdam who will discuss the HEP CAMP provisions of H.R. 2495.