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Greetings,
Learning from my peers in the higher education community is always a great experience, and it's something I look forward to with each conference I attend. Recently, I participated in the College Opportunity 2006 Conference, presented by the National College Access Network and the Council for Opportunity in Education. I wanted to take a moment to share some of what I learned there with you.
Finances are still one of the major barriers that low-income students face when it comes to college access. One thing we discussed at the conference was how recent policy developments are impacting these students' access to higher education. For example, during one presentation (given by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance), we learned about two new grant programs created in the Higher Education Reconciliation Act, geared directly toward these students. However, a large amount of uncertainty surrounds both programs.
The two new grants are both slated to be available to students this fall. The National SMART Grant program will offer grants to low-income juniors and seniors majoring in engineering, mathematics, science, or certain foreign languages. The Academic Competitiveness Grant program will offer grants to low-income freshman and sophomores who also qualify for Pell grants, and who have completed "a rigorous secondary-school program of study." Students will also need to maintain a 3.0 grade point average in college to qualify. However, standards have yet to be set on what a "rigorous program of study" actually means. This is no small task, and greatly affects how fairly the program can be administered from state to state. Another concern is that many students, not to mention college access practitioners, haven't even heard of these programs yet.
Developments like these served to remind me of how important it is to stay up-to-date on the financial aid options out there, and to spread that information within our own communities. All too often, the students who need programs like these the most never hear about them, and therefore don't take advantage of them.
A big part of being able to open the doors of education to students is to keep them informed of all the new options available that can help make college a reality for them. I encourage you all to continue to find ways to get this information out to your students!
Until next time, have a great month!
La Toya Sykes, Director
Outreach and Access Awareness
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