Feingold Backing Assistance To Higher Education Programs Feingold Seeks to Reverse President's Budget Proposal To Eliminate or Reduce Higher Education Funding May 17, 2005 Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is calling on Senate appropriators to support several higher education assistance programs to offer more students the chance of obtaining a good higher education. In bipartisan letters to Senate appropriators, Feingold is pushing to get dollars to fund Pell Grants, the LEAP program, TRIO Grants, GEAR UP funding, and Perkins loans. "Programs like Pell Grants are supposed to offer young adults a chance for a higher education that otherwise might be out of reach," Feingold said. "The President is flat out wrong in cutting funds or eliminating altogether these highly successful education programs. We must support these successful programs in order to keep the doors of higher education open to all as many Americans as possible." Feingold signed onto several letters in support of various programs. The programs include: • Pell Grant Program -- Feingold has been a consistent leader in the fight for increasing the maximum Pell award. Along with Senators, Collins, Kennedy, and Coleman, Feingold led a bipartisan group of his Senate colleagues in asking Senate appropriators to increase the maximum Pell grant award to $4,500. Feingold is also part of a broad coalition seeking to double the award by 2010. • LEAP -- The Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) program has offered states incentives for leveraging grant aid to disadvantaged undergraduate and graduate students. The President's budget proposal seeks to eliminate the LEAP program. • TRIO -- The TRIO programs help low-income and first generation U.S. college students attend college. Over 1,200 colleges, universities, community colleges and agencies nationwide now offer TRIO programs in America and an estimated two million TRIO students have graduated from college. The President's budget seeks to significantly reduce TRIO programs. • GEAR UP -- The Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) currently helps over a million disadvantaged students nationwide academically prepare to enter into and succeed in college. The President's budget proposal seeks to eliminate GEAR UP. • Perkins -- The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education program helps prepare students for a wide range of careers and post secondary education programs through vocational education. The President's budget proposal seeks to eliminate the Perkins program.

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