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Tonight, both the House and the Senate passed legislation to cut $38.5 billion from the FY 2011 spending levels, including a cut of approximately $26.6 million to TRIO. (The final table of cuts will be developed by the Administration.) To state it simply, slashing TRIO funds, in all probability, will eliminate TRIO services to 90,000 students, including working adults and veterans. President Obama, who helped craft this bill, is expected to sign the legislation tomorrow.

It is very important that each of you understands that the decision to cut TRIO reflects a value judgment by the Administration. TRIO is among a handful of programs that received larger cuts in this “compromise” bill than the infamous H.R. 1, which President Obama threatened to veto. This decision by the Administration and Senate Democrats to offer up cuts in TRIO that are larger than those proposed by radical Republicans in the House makes clear that TRIO is not among the core education priorities of the Obama Administration. It is now up to us to change this stance.

Over the course of the next several days, I ask that you contact the White House — and that you and your staff convince five other individuals (family, friends, students, alumni, and parents, etc.) to contact the White House. Contact should be made by both phone and e-mail with the following message:

“President Obama — I am very disappointed that you chose to slash funding for TRIO by $26.6 million. This will cause 90,000 to be kicked out of TRIO programs this year.”

You can e-mail the White House via the web form at (http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/). You can call the White House to leave your comment at (202) 456-1111. Please note that this line is only staffed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Eastern), Monday through Friday.

As we did over the winter holidays, we must generate enough activity at the White House to register among the several thousand of contacts the President receives every day. We ask that you share this alert with your colleagues and engage social media to get this message across.

We cannot and will not tolerate continuing cuts to the TRIO programs, which are more vital than ever given the circumstances of our nation’s most vulnerable citizens. I know that through collective action, we will emerge victorious.

The details of the Obama Administration’s agreement with the Republican-controlled House have now been released — and they are devastating. The Administration did not push back against the Republican proposal — driven by an ideology that requires the elimination of services and protections for low-income families. Rather, to protect its own priorities, the Administration agreed to cuts of at least $25 million in TRIO, bringing the appropriation from $853.1 million to below $828.4 million. The cut included for GEAR UP is $20 million.

This bill has not yet been passed by either the House or the Senate. It is expected to go to the House floor on Thursday. It is imperative that thousands of TRIO supporters register their opposition to the bill with their Senators and Congressman. To do so, call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and say:

Vote against the so-called compromise agreed upon by the Administration and the Republican leadership. The cuts to TRIO included in the bill will devastate low-income students, workers seeking retraining, and returning veterans in (name of state or community).

E-mails to your Senators and Representatives are also encouraged. A listing of these e-mail addresses is available at (http://www.contactingthecongress.org/).

If the bill does pass, it is not clear how the Department of Education will implement cuts to TRIO. One possible approach is an across-the-board cut to all existing TRIO programs. Another is to take all of the funding cuts from the Talent Search and EOC competitions. This would result in nearly 100,000 young people and unemployed adults being denied services who otherwise would have received them. If this so-called compromise passes, nearly 215,000 vulnerable low-income youth and adults will have been summarily kicked out of TRIO programs over the last six years.

We would like to remind you of the following conference calls taking place tomorrow, March 29, for TRIO supporters represented by Members of the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee. With fiscal conservatives calling for massive cuts to all domestic spending, your participation and advocacy is crucial!

Appropriations Action Calls for Republican Representatives — Tuesday, March 29

• 9:00 a.m. — Hal Rogers (R-KY)
• 10:00 a.m. — Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
• 11:00 a.m. — Kay Granger (R-TX)
• 1:00 p.m. — Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
• 2:00 p.m. — Denny Rehberg (R-MT)
• 3:00 p.m. — Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
• 4:00 p.m. — Mike Simpson (R-ID)

To participate in these calls, which will be lead by Heather Valentine, please dial 1-866-365-4406 and use Access Code 4944628. (All calls listed are Eastern Time.)

Appropriations Action Calls for Democratic Representatives — Tuesday, March 29

• 1:00 p.m. — Nita Lowey (D-NY)
• 2:00 p.m. — Steny Hoyer (D-MD)
• 3:00 p.m. — Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
• 4:00 p.m. — Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
• 5:00 p.m. — Lucille Roybal-Allard/Barbara Lee/Nancy Pelosi/George Miller (D-CA)

To participate in these calls, which will be lead by Kimberly Jones, please dial 1-800-747-5150 and use Access Code 4445658. (All calls listed are Eastern Time.)

For those of you wishing to get a jump start on advocacy, we would like to invite you to get your institution involved in advocacy. Most recently, E. Joseph Savoie, President of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette authored several letters to congressional leaders from Louisiana, including a letter (.pdf) to House Appropriator Rodney Alexander (R-LA). This is an excellent example of the type of outreach activities your host institution can be doing to encourage legislative support of your local TRIO programs. This letter emerged from several, regular meetings between local TRIO staff and institutional leaders. We strongly encourage all TRIO supporters to maintain relationships with their host institutions and to continue to raise the profile of TRIO locally and in Washington, D.C. The Government Relations Team at the Council for Opportunity in Education is always available to assist with media pieces, sample letters, etc.

Finally, please be on the lookout for an upcoming alert about the Senate Appropriations request letter — we still need more Senators to sign on! If you haven’t already done so, please contact your Senator today and ask them to sign the Baucus-Collins TRIO letter! Contact information for all Senators is available here.

As always, thank you for your continued support of TRIO programs and students. We look forward to speaking with you tomorrow.

All Members are home next week for the President’s Day recess. The House just passed a bill (H.R. 1) that cuts $100 billion in spending for the country’s most underprivileged citizens. Next the bill heads to the Senate. What will the Senate do?

Tell Senators to reject irresponsible spending cuts
that target TRIO, the Pell Grant program, and other
programs that provide necessary support to the nation’s
low-income youth and families.

Tomorrow, the Republican-lead House will vote to cut a variety of education programs, most of which are targeted toward low-income students – including TRIO, GEAR UP, and Pell Grants. For a list of cuts, please see this chart (.pdf). It is now up to the Senate to vote on the measure, which is expected to face strong opposition by the Democratic majority. It is up to YOU to start calling your Senators immediately and let them know that a cut against TRIO and the Pell Grant program is a cut against low-income and first-generation students, students with disabilities, adult learners, and Veterans where you live.

The Senate is in recess next week, so it is the perfect time to outreach and meet, call, and write your Senators, contact your local media and express your feelings about these drastic cuts, and rally your community. For the contact information for your local Senate offices, please click here. The Senate will not vote until after the recess. Please use the week when Congress is at home to let your Senators know they must reject the devastating cuts the House will soon pass.

Organize activities and/or attend events so your Senators learn how harmful the cuts to TRIO and other education programs will be to their constituents:

• Invite your Senator and/or staff to visit a TRIO program at your institution. Let them see a successful program, talk to students and families served by TRIO, and hear about the effects of a potential cut. (If you can't schedule such a visit next week, arrange for a later time. There will be many more votes about cuts in the coming months.)
• Schedule a meeting with your Senators or Rep. and a group of advocates either at their office, a location you arrange, or by conference call. (When time is short, a conference call may be easiest to arrange.)
• Find out about "meet and greet" opportunities or forums set up by your Senators or Rep. and arrange to have people there who can talk about the cuts.
• Arrange for call-ins to the local offices each day, by different members of your network.

NOTE — Contacting Senators is most crucial, because the final outcome is in their hands. But holding events with Representatives can also be important, either to hold them accountable for their vote or to get press attention that the Senators will also see.

Please contact Heather Valentine (heather.valentine@coenet.us) or Kimberly Jones (kimberly.jones@coenet.us) if you will be doing any of these (or other) activities or need to ask for more information. Don’t forget to send us your stories and what you are accomplishing back home!

Together, by working in D.C. and in local districts, we can, and will, make a difference!

Last night, House Republicans introduced a bill that not only cuts TRIO funding for the remainder of FY 2011 by 2.9% (for a loss of $24.9 million), but provides inadequate funding for programs important to the education of low-income and first-generation students and threatens our national security. If this bill is passed, 60,000 students could be kicked out of the Talent Search and EOC programs this year (programs funded by the FY 2011 bill) due to lack of funding and Congressional support. GEAR UP received a 6.1% cut in funding for FY 2011 for a loss of $19.8 million.

The Republican bill also drastically cuts funding for programs like Head Start, freezing funding for Pell Grants at last year’s level (therefore requiring maximum grant amounts to be reduced by more than $800 per student because of continued growth in the number of students eligible and the levels of financial need) and cutting services off for hundreds of thousands of students receiving services and funding from Hispanic Serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and funds for Asian American Pacific Islanders. The bill also eliminates the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) program (a program for undergraduates with exceptional financial need). For a full list of cuts, please click here (.pdf).

The bill, cobbled together by the House Republicans, represents an assault on programs focused on providing services and opportunity to low-income Americans. COE urges all supporters of TRIO (including parents, staff, institution leaders, community activists and students) to contact their House Members immediately and demand that they not support this bill. Be ready to talk about the importance of these programs to your students, your institution and your community. COE encourages you to contact all Members of the House on both sides of the aisle but if you are represented by a Republican, it is important you get everyone involved with your program to outreach to that office because it is a Republican bill.

COE staff is here to assist you throughout the weekend and through the week. Please contact Kimberly Jones (kimberly.jones@coenet.us), (202) 489-6745 (cell) or Heather Valentine (heather.valentine@coenet.us), (202) 744-4043 (cell).

In addition, President Obama will release his Budget proposal on Monday morning. COE staff will update you as information is provided throughout the weekend and week.

This week the House Republican leadership has released a series of proposed cuts to the federal budget. (You can review that list, which includes cuts to Amtrak, the FBI, NASA, EPA, NSF, and NIH, here.) Since announcing these proposed cuts, House Republican leadership has announced plans to reduce spending by another $26 billion — resulting in a full $100 billion in cuts! (You can read more about this here.)

Although TRIO is not yet on the list of proposed cuts, conservative House Members are requesting that Leadership make additional cuts through the weekend and next week. If you have not already, NOW is the time to contact your U.S. House Representative! (You can find their contact information here.) Here is a sample message for your use:

This will only take a few minutes of your time but it is important that we continue to outreach to our Members and provide a voice for the students we serve.

Dear Upward Bound Colleague:

As you may know, the Senate is currently deliberating the bill to decide the FY 2011 TRIO appropriation. It is imperative that the $57 million needed to continue the 187 programs funded through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) is included in the TRIO appropriation base. If this money is not included, the 956 EXISTING UPWARD BOUND PROGRAMS WITH PRIOR EXPERIENCE WILL BE COMPETING FOR JUST 778 SLOTS in the competition scheduled for completion in 2012. Even more troubling is the fact that without this funding, 12,000 current Upward Bound students will lose their services before the next competition. In order to ensure that this does not happen, we need you — and all Upward Bound staff, parents, students, alumni and friends — to contact BOTH of your Senators and demand that $57 million is included in the TRIO base for Upward Bound.

Your voice matters! Please contact Kimberly Jones with the Council for Opportunity in Education at (kimberly.jones@coenet.us) or (202) 347-7430 if you have any questions or need assistance in contacting your Member of Congress.

Sincerely,

Arnold Mitchem
President
COE

Dear Talent Search and EOC Colleagues:

The Council for Opportunity in Education needs you to act immediately today. This week the Senate is deciding on its TRIO appropriation for FY 2011, which funds both the TS and EOC competitions. In order to be successful in obtaining the highest amount of funding for Talent Search and EOC, we need every TS and EOC staff member, student, parent, alumnus, and friend of TRIO to outreach to both of their Senators today and voice the opinion that the Senate must keep the House increase of $25.6 million for FY 2011. This increase, when compared with the $15 million provided in the Senate bill, will allow for an estimated 100 additional TS and EOC grants to be awarded in the current competitions and a three-point higher cut off score. To contact your Senators, please visit (http://www.senate.gov/).

Your voice matters! Please contact Kimberly Jones with the Council for Opportunity in Education at (kimberly.jones@coenet.us) or (202) 347-7430 if you have any questions or need assistance in contacting your Member of Congress.

Sincerely,

Arnold Mitchem
President
COE

The Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) urges Members of the 111^th Congress to act immediately to pass a Fiscal Year 2011 Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education (LHHS) bill and advance federal TRIO* program funding by $25.6 million for a total of $878.7 million (the amount included in the FY 2011 House LHHS Subcommittee-passed bill). Furthermore, COE calls on Congress to provide an additional $57 million in funding for FY 2011 to continue TRIO services to 12,000 Upward Bound students who will otherwise lose services beginning in December 2011.

Many policymakers have often acknowledged that TRIO programs meet a critical need of providing student support services to low-income, first-generation, and minority students as well as veterans and students with disabilities who are looking to make sound and informed higher education choices. Yet, TRIO programs continue to face tremendous pressures and the number of students served is steadily declining due to lack of funding. According to U.S. Department of Education data (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/), TRIO serves approximately 41,400 fewer students in FY 2009 than it did in FY 2005.

As the only higher education organization with the mission to advance and defend the idea of equal opportunity in postsecondary education, COE is deeply concerned about the inadequate funding being targeted toward disadvantaged students, which may impact our nation’s efforts to meet 21st century workforce needs. The lack of sufficient backing from federal lawmakers has caused an alarming number of students to lose TRIO services, and hundreds of thousands of students are turned away each year despite a growing need that, taken together, will make it difficult for the Obama Administration to meet its goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the year 2020. These problems not only impact the 2020 goal, but the lives of the students and their families are affected by the lack of funding that contribute to the economic stability of the United States.

Equal education opportunity is one of our most cherished fundamental rights as citizens. We must call attention to this very important, and often overlooked, matter to provide our low-income, first-generation, and minority students as well as veterans and students with disabilities with the options they need to become successful.

As you know, last week the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee in the House approved its FY 2011 funding bill. Although official figures were not released, it is our understanding that TRIO received a $25.6 million or 3% increase for a total funding level of $878.7 million.

Earlier this week, the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee announced plans to mark up its version of the FY 2011 funding bill; however, this action has been postponed because final funding levels for programs such as TRIO have not yet been decided.

As the Senate number remains undecided and the House figure is uncertain, it is imperative that everyone — TRIO staff, institutional leaders, parents, students, alumni, etc. — outreach to their legislators to support a substantial increase for TRIO in FY 2011 over the next several days. Volume will be the key to ensuring greater funding for TRIO next year.

You can reach both your Senators and Representatives by dialing the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Also, we have created a web tool that will allow you to send pre-written messages (or write your own) to Congress simply by inputting your contact information: (http://www.congressweb.com/cweb2/index.cfm/siteid/coe/). Targeted e-mails and talking points are available on that website for your convenience. Please be sure to alert the Government Relations teams of any responses you receive from your legislators so that we may take appropriate action here in Washington.

Finally, please be sure to join us for our weekly Government Relations conference call tomorrow at 2:00 P.M. (Eastern). To participate, please dial 1-800-747-5150 and use Access Code 4445658.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Heather Valentine (heather.valentine@coenet.us) or Kimberly Jones (kimberly.jones@coenet.us) by e-mail or phone at (202) 347-7430.

As you know, your Upward Bound project is one of the 187 programs funded through the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA). Funding for your program is slated to expire on November 30, 2011.

The Council for Opportunity in Education is working with Congress to provide funding to continue these programs through the FY 2011 and beyond, but this will be no easy task. In fact, it will be a very difficult one.

You may have received correspondence from your program officer at the U.S. Department of Education claiming that “money to carry your program through to the next Upward Bound competition in FY 2012 has been approved.” However, the reality is that on Capital Hill and in national politics, an “approval” is insubstantial. The goal is to secure additional appropriations — that is what we need and that is what we are pushing for. To date, this has not happened. In its FY 2011 budget request to Congress, the Administration did not request monies to fund your program from November 2011 through June 2012. It currently costs $910.1 million to fund all TRIO programs, but the Obama Administration only requested $853.1 million in discretionary funding for TRIO in FY 2011.

It is of paramount importance that you understand the implications of this budget and what it means to you and to our larger TRIO community. This is why we urge you to not cease your efforts to make this funding crisis known to your Members of Congress.

Our team will be contacting you and engaging you further on this matter. In recognizing the complexity of this process, we are encouraging you to contact Kimberly Jones at the Council for Opportunity in Education with any questions you may have. She can be reached at (202) 347-7430 or via e-mail at (kimberly.jones@coenet.us).

Do you know what time it is? At the end of this week, Congress will adjourn for 10 days for its annual 4^th of July Recess. What does this mean? Members of Congress will be home at the end of this week for an extended break (lasting until July 13^th ). It is critical that each Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate hear from the TRIO community during the holiday break. There are two ways you can do this: schedule a meeting with the Member or Senator in their local office during the recess or attend a town hall meeting while they are home.

How Do You Schedule a Meeting With Your Member of Congress? — Call the Member’s Washington D.C. office via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for the correct person to contact regarding scheduling a meeting in the local offices. E-mail a meeting request form to that person and set up the meeting. Once your meeting is set, assemble a team of TRIO directors, alumni, and students to accompany you on your meeting! Remember, there is strength in numbers when telling the story of TRIO and it is important that the Member and his or her staff understand how important TRIO is in their community! Also, contact Kimberly Jones or Heather Valentine at the Council for Opportunity in Education at (202) 347-7430 to get up-to-date talking points and detailed information relating to your individual member. General talking points (.pdf) and a sample meeting request letter (.pdf) are available on the Government Relations Bulletin Board. With Congress beginning to set its appropriations calendar for this year, this holiday break is extremely important. The more Members of Congress who hear the voice of TRIO in their districts and states, the more successful we will be in advancing TRIO.

How Do You know If Your Member or Senator Has a Town Hall Meeting Scheduled? — Call your Representative or Senator’s Washington D.C. office via the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask the front desk if they have town hall meetings scheduled. If they do, it is important that you get a large TRIO constituency to attend the event wearing TRIO pins and TRIO shirts. Also, have one or two people prepared to ask a detailed question of the Member or Senator — COE staff can help you draft these questions.

We know that many of you are on summer break, but without a constant and consistent message, the TRIO voice will be lost! As you all know, it is an election year — which means they are counting on YOUR VOTE! Make sure that you carry the message that your vote depends on the support and advancement of TRIO!

Please feel free to contact Kimberly Jones (kimberly.jones@coenet.us) or Heather Valentine (heather.valentine@coenet.us) if you have any questions.

Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) is circulating a letter (.pdf) to secure funding for FY 2011 for the Upward Bound program and ensure that funding continues for 187 programs through the 2011-2012 academic year. We need to get this problem taken care of as soon as possible so we can refocus Congress on issues affecting every TRIO program.

Contact your Member in the U.S. House of Representatives TODAY and urge him or her to sign onto the Scott letter today to ensure that 11,000 students do not lose services during the 2011-2012 academic year due to the delayed competition. Contact information for your Member of Congress is available here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Heather Valentine (heather.valentine@coenet.us) or Kimberly Jones (kimberly.jones@coenet.us). The DEADLINE for this letter is COB on Monday, May 17^th so it is imperative that every TRIO constituent act today.

Thanks to everyone for their efforts yesterday in getting five more Senators to sign the appropriations letter! Our work is not done, however. The deadline for obtaining signatures to the Senate Appropriations request letter (.pdf) has been extended to Thursday, April 15^th. As of 8 a.m. EST today, the following Senators have agreed to sign the letter: Akaka, Baucus, Bingaman, Boxer, Brown (OH), Burris, Cardin, Collins, Conrad, Crapo, Durbin, Feingold, Franken, Gillibrand, Johnson, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lincoln, Lieberman, Menendez, Reed, Sanders, Schumer, Shaheen, Snowe, Stabenow, Udall (NM), Whitehouse, and Wyden.

This is down from the 39 signatories of last year (Senators who have signed in the past but are not on this year’s letter are: Cantwell, Casey, Dodd, Dorgan, Ensign, Feinstein, Johnson, Klobuchar, Kohl, Lugar, Mikulski, Bill Nelson, Pryor, Roberts, Rockefeller and Tester). Therefore, we strongly encourage you to reach out to your Senators if they have not yet signed on — particularly if they made a commitment to do so during your Hill visits on March 23. If any Senate offices are interested in signing on, please have them contact Tony McClain with Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) at (202) 224-6428 or Nikki McKinney with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) at (202) 224-2523.

It is imperative that we get as many Senators to sign this letter as possible over the next 24 hours. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (heather.valentine@coenet.us). Also, if your Senator agreed to sign the letter but is not on this list, please let me know and I will reach out to his or her staff.

Given the Obama Administration's level funding request for TRIO in FY2011, it is vital that the Congress act to ensure increased funds to continue current levels of program services. However, in these tough economic times, many Members of Congress are wary of pushing for increased funding for federal programs. The only way that they will do so if you, their constituents, urge them to do so!

Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have taken the lead for securing more funds for TRIO in FY2011 in the Senate. Representatives Donald Payne (D-NJ), Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), and Gwen Moore (D-WI) are leading the way in the House. But they need your help.

Contact your Senators and Representatives TODAY and urge them to sign onto the Lincoln-Collins and Payne-Shea-Porter-Moore letters in the Senate and House, respectively. Copies of these letters are available on the Government Relations Bulletin Board.

Once again, Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have taken the lead in fighting for more TRIO funding. They are currently soliciting other Senators to join them in this effort through the attached FY2011 Appropriations Request Letter (.pdf). We ask that you encourage your Senators to sign on today!

Contact information for all Senators is available online at (http://www.senate.gov/).

If your Senators would like to sign on, ask them to contact Tony McClain with Senator Lincoln's office at (202) 224-6428 or (tony_mcclain@lincoln.senate.gov) or Nikki McKinney with Senator Collins at (202) 2244-2523 or (nikki_mckinney@collins.senate.gov). Also, please be sure to thank Senators Lincoln and Collins, as well as their staff, for their continued efforts on our behalf.

Yesterday, Secretary Arne Duncan testified before the House Education and Labor Committee to discuss how strong and innovative education reforms can help rebuild the U.S. economy and restore our competitiveness, particularly in the context of the Administration’s FY2011 budget request. During the hearing, both Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) questioned the Secretary about the Administration’s commitment to TRIO. Congressman Payne, co-chair of the TRIO Congressional Caucus, asked Secretary Duncan to explain how TRIO fit into President Obama’s goal to emerge first in the world for college completion by the year 2020. Meanwhile, Congressman Scott revisited the issue of Upward Bound funding, which he raised during last week’s House Budget Committee hearing.

A complete video of the hearing is available online. Congressman Payne’s remarks begin at 42:12. Congressman Scott’s remarks begin at 1:14:58.

Please thank Congressmen Payne and Scott for their continued advocacy on behalf of TRIO!

Thank you for your quick response to what is sure to be an arduous fight — to preserve all 956 Upward Bound projects in program year 2011-2012. As you know, President Obama did not include enough funding in his FY2011 budget request to Congress to sustain all of these projects. As a result, the Department of Education plans to host a Classic Upward Bound competition in late summer/early fall 2010. Only by securing at least a $57 million increase from Congress will we be able to prevent a loss an estimated 275 existing programs in program year 2011-2012.

To that end, COE is mounting a campaign to secure this additional funding for the Upward Bound programs (This is part of an overall strategy to increase appropriations for all TRIO programs in FY2011). As part of this effort, we will be hosting numerous state-based conference calls and maintaining a special “FY2011 Budget Crisis” portion on our website. This site includes a “Frequently Asked Questions” page that will be updated as needed. The first set of FAQs is included in our Upward Bound Action Packet (.pdf).

In the meantime, it is critical that all Upward Bound personnel recruit their students, parents, alumni, and colleagues to rise up and fight to save their programs!

The following list is just a sampling of the many endeavors you can undertake in this fight:

• Face-to-Face Meetings with Members of Congress at:
  • Their local office (see sample meeting request in the attachment)
  • Townhall meetings, open forums
  • On Capitol Hill (e.g., COE Policy Seminar)
• Written & Phone Campaigns
  • Letters from personnel, alumni, students, and parents (see examples in the attachment)
  • Postcards from students explaining what the program means to them
  • E-mails to Senators, Representatives, and their staff
  • Phone calls to congressional offices leaving general messages (e.g., “I want Senator Jones to support a $57 million increase in Upward Bound funding in fiscal year 2011!”)
• Media Presence
  • Letters to the Editor of your local newspapers
  • Opinion pieces and guest columns in local newspapers
  • Local news coverage of program events (e.g., community service activities, awards ceremonies, etc.)
• Invite Members of Congress to visit your program. A sample request is included in the Upward Bound Action Packet (.pdf).

Another opportunity to focus a great deal of attention around this issue is the upcoming National TRIO Day on Saturday, February 27, 2010 when many TRIO programs around the country will be gathering to host rallies, give speeches, etc. Whatever type of advocacy efforts you engage in, please be sure to keep COE’s Government Relations team informed of any feedback you receive from congressional offices as this will assist them in continuing the fight on Capitol Hill.

Please contact either Heather Valentine (heather.valentine@coenet.us) or Kimberly Jones (kimberly.jones@coenet.us) by e-mail or phone at (202) 347-7430 with any questions or to provide information about your interactions with your Members of Congress.

Today, President Obama released his FY 2011 budget request for the U.S. Department of Education. In his request, the President included $910.1 million for the TRIO programs. This represents level-funding for all programs, including $57 million that was provided in 2007 for 187 additional Upward Bound projects. This request suggests there will be no Upward Bound competition until the summer of 2011.

While I know we are all disappointed with the funding provided in this budget, we must turn our advocacy efforts to Congress to ensure that all TRIO programs receive additional funding to maintain quality services, meet legislative mandates, and contribute to the President’s goal to ensure that the United States has the highest proportion of students graduating from college in the world by 2020.

TRIO funding has been stagnant for the past seven years. Meanwhile, the cost of services has continued to increase. As a result, TRIO programs have lost nearly 40,000 students since Fiscal Year 2006.

For more information, please please feel free to contact Heather Valentine at the Council at (202) 347-7430.