SENATOR COLLINS SUPPORTS LEGISLATION TO ASSIST STUDENTS AND STRENGTHEN GLOBAL COMPETITIVENESS

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WASHINGTON, D.C. —Senator Susan Collins today joined Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) to offer an amendment to the Budget Resolution that seeks to increase investment in critical education programs that open the doors of opportunity for students, workers, and families.

            The Kennedy-Collins Amendment would secure funding for the Pell grant increasing it from $4,050 to $4,500 as well as securing resources to restore cuts and increase funding for the TRIO, GEAR UP, LEAP, and Perkins loan programs.

            “These programs are crucial for access to college and access to the American dream for all students, no matter what their background or financial means,” said Senator Collins.  “In Maine, it is estimated that increasing the maximum award would result in approximately $6.5 million in additional Pell funding next year, and would provide Pell grants to more than 600 additional students.”

            In 1975, the maximum Pell grant covered approximately 80 percent of the costs of

attending a public, four-year institution.  Today, it covers less than half of these costs, forcing

students to make up the difference by taking on larger and larger amounts of debt.  On average,

students from the University of Maine graduate with approximately $18,000 in debt from

federal student loans alone, and this reflects national trends. 

            To encourage support among her Senate colleagues for this amendment, Senator Collins pointed out that GEAR UP funding has helped to completely change the college aspirations of students in Maine .  Senator Collins explained that when the University of Maine at Farmington GEAR UP Partnership, which partners with the T.W. Kelly Dirigo Middle School in Dixfield, first got a GEAR UP grant in 1999, only 37 percent of graduating high school students went on to post secondary education.  Last June, the first cohort of the GEAR UP program graduated and 82.3 percent went on to higher education. 

         The Kennedy-Collins Amendment also seeks to restore funding for job training

and the Perkins Vocational Education program.