HEA Sample Letter

Sample Letter

The Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act

The Honorable (Your Congressman)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman____________:

I am writing to urge you to support the provisions of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus bill H.R. 2495, the Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century Act, which amends the Higher Education Act to greatly increase postsecondary education opportunities for Hispanic students and other student populations underrepresented in post secondary education. I am writing as a member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, an organization that has been helping to increase educational opportunities for Hispanics since 1929.

My understanding is that despite the fact that Hispanics have one of the lowest educational attainment rates of any ethnic population in the United States, they are the most underrepresented in federal higher education programs. This disparity between need and allocation of resources must end and the Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century Act would go a long way in correcting this injustice.

For example, the bill would address the chronic underrepresentation of Hispanics the federal TRIO Programs. Although, Hispanics comprise 30% of the students eligible for TRIO they only make up 15% of TRIO participants.

In conclusion, I urge you to support inclusion of the provisions of H.R. 2495 in the education committee's bill for reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

Sincerely,

You can look up your representative using your zip code with the following link: http://congress.org/search.html