Departments Of Labor, Health And Human Services, And Education, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010
Floor Speech
Departments Of Labor, Health And Human Services, And Education, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010
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Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Chair, as Congress continues to address proposals intended to decrease the poverty gap and increase access to higher education for low-income and first generation college students, as well as at-risk youth, I strongly encourage a significant funding boost for Federal TRIO programs. TRIO has offered effective supportive services with proven results for hundreds of thousands of students across the country. However, these local programs work on a shoestring budget that forces them to turn away thousands of eligible students every year.
I applaud the increase that TRIO received in the FY 2010 House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, but it is nowhere near enough to address the need. I offered an amendment to increase funding by an additional $5 million, offset by a new and unproven grant program that aims to accomplish exactly the same goals that the proven TRIO program is already working towards. I fully support innovation, but not at the expense of meeting the needs of students now.
TRIO is a proven program currently serving nearly 850,000 at-risk students ranging from middle school to college students nearing graduation.
TRIO provides the academic and personal support that young, low-income, and at-risk students need to help take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them.
TRIO students who have participated in pre-college programs have a higher matriculation rate than other low-income students. In 2005, 77.3% of all students who participated in Upward Bound programs immediately went to college the following fall and 86.5% of students who participated in Upward Bound-Math Science went directly to college. Similarly, 73% of Talent Search participants enrolled in college the fall following high school graduation. These figures stand in sharp contrast to the immediate college enrollment rate of all low-income high school students--only 41%.
Several data sources illustrate the success of TRIO by showing that students who participate in TRIO Student Support Services (SSS), with Pell Grant funding, are almost 10% more likely to attain a bachelor's degree than those who solely received Pell Grants without SSS participation.
51% percent of campuses that enroll over 1,000 Pell recipients host SSS programs. Yet, the average size of an SSS grant only allows a typical program to serve a portion (25.11%) of eligible students. Many others--students for whom consistent supportive services could mean the difference between a college degree and dropping out--do not receive the support they need.
TRIO has not received a significant increase since FY 2006. According to the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Education 2009, current TRIO funding levels are only sufficient to serve 11% of the students who are eligible for help.
Students from the bottom income quartile ($38,660 or under per family) have a 25% chance at completing a college degree once they begin. In contrast, students from the top quartile ($105,800 or over per family) have a 95% chance of completing a college degree. As such, services offered by the TRIO programs become all the more critical to ensure that such students have the opportunity to become economically viable and independent members of our post-industrial, global society.
The High School Graduation Initiative is an untested program that received $50 million dollars in the Department of Education Appropriations Act of 2010. It aims for the same goals as TRIO, yet it is unproven. My amendment would have drawn $5 million from this fund to put towards TRIO. It is not enough to ensure that this effective program can reach all eligible students, but it is a start.
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