The discontinuance of Upward Bound and Talent Search would prevent deserving students from exposure to exemplary professionals on a college campus. This is an invaluable experience that would no longer be afforded to urban youth in a city such as Washington, DC. The residential experience of the Upward Bound summer program motivates many youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to believe that college is within their reach. TRIO is also an important stimulant in developin the students’ comfort level with environments other than their own. The decision to eliminate Upward Bound and Talent Search will have dire consequences and result in a 55% cut of the total TRIO budget as well as a reduction of 188,000 students from low-income backgrounds being left without the support they need to succeed. The programs were designed in 1965 to help low-income students overcome the barriers they faced enter and graduate from college. In 2005, they are still needed to help students from low-income backgrounds.

Joseph E. Bell, Director, TRIO Programs at Howard University, at 2:01 pm EST on February 1, 2005

I have been a member of Upward Bound since 2001, my freshman year of high school. My guidance counselor highly recommended me to the program, due to my social experiences. I was, and have never been, popular with my fellow peers. At Upward Bound, I was accepted for my opinions.

Academically, I was challenged by the program. I have always retained a strong GPA, but Upward Bound helped me focus on moving from a barely making be Honor Roll to making A.

I have always wanted to be a writer, but I lacked the self-confidence to go to college for the major of English Composition. I decided that I would instead become a teacher. Although an extremely important profession, I would have never been happy with myself. My freshman year of college I will start earning my English Composition major. I will spend one year in a small community college, and then transfer to New York City. While continuing my secondary education, I will also work on getting my work published.

Without Upward Bound I don’t think I would have had the courage or the strength to fight for this. My stepmother is still trying to convince that I will fall flat on my face. Without Upward Bound I probably would have listened. Thanks to Upward Bound and my fantastic Central Staff, I will never listen to that; I will achieve my full potential.

If Bush wins my class, the class of 2005, will be the last Upward Bound graduates ever. My brother is a freshman and just started the program. My best friend is a junior and is in Educational Talent Search. This can’t be allowed. I am writing to my senators and representatives. I encourage you all to do the same.

Danielle Selders, Upward Bound Changed Me at Northwest Missouri State University, at 3:08 pm EST on February 7, 2005

Upward Bound

I was invited to be an Upward Bound student in 1967, when I was a 15 year old high school junior. Part of my qualifications involved my health problems (I’d missed my entire 10th grade, due to illness). I also easily qualified because I was a member of a “working poor” family. I attended the UB summer programs at Trenton State College in 1967 and 1968. UB kept me focused on college and my future. I immigrated to the US from Ireland with my parents in the late ’50s. I am the first person to even *attend* high school in my family. Today, I am a community college professor, teaching engineering. It’s obvious why programs like Upward Bound are in the crosshairs of our present administration. The President has no knowledge or interest in the notion of folks who pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. His “silver-spoon” heritage has give him myopia when it comes to understanding the working class.Mr. Bush’s has little interest in progams that do not directly benefit his “base".

Nial McCabe, Prof at CCM / NJ, at 5:48 am EST on February 14, 2005

Upward Bound

I’m appalled that the Bush administration would consider cutting the Upward Bound and Talent Search programs! I am a fifteen-year-old sophomore from a rural area in central Pennsylvania; I am currently participating in the Upward Bound Program. My brother was in the program and is now in his second year of college in Amherst, MA. He is doing extremely well. Had it not been for the skills taught to us by the Upward Bound Program, his dreams would not have been realized. Our parents would have assumed that higher education was out of the question due to the costs. My younger brother, though only 11, is already excited about the chance to attend college, inspired by the successes of my bother and my enthusiasm for achieving my dreams all due to the Upward Bound Program. Now the president is going to cut the program? What does he hope to achieve by taking this wonderful educational experience away from those who need it most? Taking the money from UB is not the kind of help we need. These programs have helped so many people; to cut them would be a crime.

Emma Lisak, at 12:35 pm EST on February 19, 2006