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COE: Internal Briefing
February 25, 2008
Dear Colleague:
A number of you have asked for clarification regarding COE’s request to Congress for a $120 million increase in Fiscal Year 2009. As you may be aware, the increase has three components:
- $35 million (a four percent increase) to make up for the inflation suffered in the previous fiscal year;
- $28 million to fund an additional 100 Student Support Services programs serving 20,000 additional students; and
- $57 million to provide additional supportive services in math and science in currently funded EOC, McNair, Talent Search, all Upward Bound TRIO, and Student Support Services programs.
Most of the questions were based on why new programs should be funded when all currently funded programs have suffered the devastating impacts of level funding and increased costs over the past several years.
It is important to understand the context of this request, particularly the fact that we are not in a situation where an additional $120 million has been appropriated and COE has been asked to provide recommendations on how to best to spend that money. Rather, we are at the point where we have to make an argument – an argument that distinguishes TRIO from every other education program that has been level funded or cut over the past several years – to provide our friends in Congress with the ammunition they need to fight very hard for a $120 million increase in TRIO funds.
It is also important to understand that if Congress were to fund the programs at $948.2 million in FY 2009 (as we have proposed), more than three-quarters of the request ($92 million) would be available for increases for currently funded programs. This is approximately a 10.4% increase for each currently funded program.
Lastly, it is particularly critical for institutions currently sponsoring Student Support Services projects to understand that if money is not provided to fund additional Student Support Services projects, it is almost certain that the cut-off score for funding will be very high, and a number of very strong programs – even strong programs with good applications – will be discontinued (much like the FY 2007 Upward Bound Math/Science and McNair competitions).
I hope this further clarifies COE’s funding request, but should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Heather Valentine (heather.valentine@coenet.us) or Maureen Hoyler (maureen.hoyler@coenet.us). Both can also be reached at 202-347-7430.
Sincerely,
Arnold L. Mitchem
President
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