Spring Break
UConn Awarded $293,000 To Help Inner-City Students
Freesia Singngam
Issue date: 6/11/07 Section: News
Inner-city high school students will have the opportunity to advance their academic skill levels this summer at UConn thanks to a generous grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
UConn received a $293,255 grant for its Upward Bound program, Congressman Joe Courtney announced in May.
"I am proud to announce this grant award for UConn's Upward Bound program because of the commitment the UConn community has made to improving the lives of low-income students and families," Courtney stated in a press release. "I am particularly grateful to Maria Martinez for providing such exceptional testimony before my committee to advocate on behalf of this very program."
With budgets tightening in the Department of Education, the program was in danger of losing funding, according to Maria Martinez, director for the Center for Academic Programs, which runs Upward Bound.
Upward Bound, which has been at UConn for over 40 years, was "one of the programs that have been under the gun," Martinez said in an interview. Some studies have said that Upward Bound was ineffective, she said.
"We do have a very good and important success rate," Martinez said. "This year was a very serious time for us."
The program had already accepted the students, so they needed the funding.
Courtney invited Martinez to a committee meeting in March where Martinez had to present a testimony before the House Education and Labor to prove that the Upward Bound Program was successful in order to receive funding.
The hearing, "The Higher Education Act: Approaches to College Preparation," was one of a series of hearings before Courtney's committee on the issue of the Higher Education Act Reauthorization.
Upward Bound, which targets low-income families, serves eligible high school students from Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Windham. Students are selected to attend 6-week summer programs at UConn following their ninth, tenth and eleventh grades at school, according to it's the Center for Academic Programs Web site. They are also tutored during the school year.
"All activities and programming are designed to accomplish two primary goals: a) to promote motivation and accomplishment that leads each Upward Bound Program participant to successful high school completion and b) to ensure the attainment of academic skills necessary for college placement and graduation," according to the Web site.
According to Martinez's testimony, 94 percent of Upward Bound students ultimately enroll in college with an 85 percent graduation rate.
UConn received a $293,255 grant for its Upward Bound program, Congressman Joe Courtney announced in May.
"I am proud to announce this grant award for UConn's Upward Bound program because of the commitment the UConn community has made to improving the lives of low-income students and families," Courtney stated in a press release. "I am particularly grateful to Maria Martinez for providing such exceptional testimony before my committee to advocate on behalf of this very program."
With budgets tightening in the Department of Education, the program was in danger of losing funding, according to Maria Martinez, director for the Center for Academic Programs, which runs Upward Bound.
Upward Bound, which has been at UConn for over 40 years, was "one of the programs that have been under the gun," Martinez said in an interview. Some studies have said that Upward Bound was ineffective, she said.
"We do have a very good and important success rate," Martinez said. "This year was a very serious time for us."
The program had already accepted the students, so they needed the funding.
Courtney invited Martinez to a committee meeting in March where Martinez had to present a testimony before the House Education and Labor to prove that the Upward Bound Program was successful in order to receive funding.
The hearing, "The Higher Education Act: Approaches to College Preparation," was one of a series of hearings before Courtney's committee on the issue of the Higher Education Act Reauthorization.
Upward Bound, which targets low-income families, serves eligible high school students from Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Windham. Students are selected to attend 6-week summer programs at UConn following their ninth, tenth and eleventh grades at school, according to it's the Center for Academic Programs Web site. They are also tutored during the school year.
"All activities and programming are designed to accomplish two primary goals: a) to promote motivation and accomplishment that leads each Upward Bound Program participant to successful high school completion and b) to ensure the attainment of academic skills necessary for college placement and graduation," according to the Web site.
According to Martinez's testimony, 94 percent of Upward Bound students ultimately enroll in college with an 85 percent graduation rate.
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