Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss the President's fiscal year 2003 budget request for the Office of Postsecondary Education as it relates to preparing high school and college students for success in the workforce. Our fiscal year 2003 budget would provide continuing support to a range of postsecondary education programs that complement the efforts of the No Child Left Behind Act to ensure that every American has the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in the workforce of the 21st century.

College Preparation

Achieving a high-quality postsecondary education begins with adequate preparation in high school. College enrollment and completion gaps between low-income students and their more advantaged peers, and minority and non-minority students are directly related to the lower level of academic preparation that disadvantaged students receive in high school. Data indicate that not only do low-income and minority students have lower academic performance and high school graduation rates, but they continue to have lower educational expectations and are less likely to take key courses needed for entry into, and success in, college. Three of our programs, Upward Bound and Talent Search—both TRIO programs—and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), specifically address this education achievement gap by providing a wide range of intervention services to disadvantaged middle and high school students. Using different approaches, these programs provide low-income students with tutoring, counseling, mentoring, and other assistance to ensure that they have the skills, motivation, and information necessary to pursue a postsecondary degree.

The President's fiscal year 2003 budget proposes to continue support for the Federal TRIO Programs at $802.5 million, and for GEAR UP at $285 million. The $400 million allocated to the Upward Bound and Talent Search programs would continue to serve approximately 432,000 students, most of whom are high school students. GEAR UP—with its $285 million and matching contributions—would serve nearly 1.4 million middle and high school students, an increase of 135,000 over last year. Together, these programs start many of our Nation's neediest middle and high school students on an early path to future success. We are currently examining the effectiveness of TRIO and GEAR UP in order to develop strategies to improve program performance and to direct resources toward the most effective strategies. We plan to use data on the performance of these programs to guide the development of the President's fiscal year 2004 budget request and the Department's reauthorization proposals.

College Access

Today a postsecondary education is more important than ever for a successful transition to the workforce. Continuing changes in the American economy have made it more difficult for individuals with only a high school education to find secure, high-paying jobs. Our most recent data indicate that individuals with a Bachelor's degree or higher earn nearly twice as much as those with only a high school diploma, and their unemployment rate is less than half the unemployment rate of high school graduates. By providing access to postsecondary education through early preparation and through financial assistance, the Administration is helping to make college, and the benefits of a college education, a real possibility for every American.

The President's budget would make available close to $55 billion in student aid, excluding loan consolidations, to over 8.4 million students. The Pell Grant program, the foundation of the Federal student assistance effort, has been the most effective and well-targeted program in helping low- and middle-income students attend college. The Administration requests $10.9 billion to support Pell Grants, an increase of $549 million, or 5.3 percent, over fiscal year 2002.

To supplement the funds available under the Pell Grant program, we are proposing to continue support at current levels for the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and Federal Work-Study programs, at $725 million and $1.011 billion, respectively. Our budget also includes $100 million in continuing support for the Perkins Loan Program Capital Contributions, and $67.5 million for Perkins Loan Cancellations. Through a combination of grants, loans, and work-study, these programs provide institutions with the flexibility to best meet the needs of low- and middle-income students.

We are also requesting $1 million for the third year of the Loan Forgiveness for Child Care Providers program to enable this demonstration program to continue on a limited basis while its effectiveness is evaluated. We are not proposing funding for the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership program because it has fulfilled its purpose of encouraging States to establish need-based student grant and work-study programs.

In fiscal year 2003, we expect students and their parents to take out 10 million student loans totaling $40.7 billion under the Federal Family Education Loan and Federal Direct Student Loan programs, and the Administration is committed to supporting both loan programs. To encourage more students to enter math, science, and special education teaching, the President is proposing to increase substantially the maximum amount of loan forgiveness for math, science, and special education teachers who are teaching at qualified low-income schools from $5,000 to $17,500.

The President's fiscal year 2003 budget also continues support for a number of Higher Education grant programs that provide scholarship and other financial support to ensure that high-achieving and disadvantaged students have the ability to pursue and complete their postsecondary education. The Byrd Honors Scholarships program would receive $41 million, Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need would receive $31 million, and Javits Fellowships would receive $10 million. In addition, significant grant aid would continue to be provided to low-income students under TRIO's Student Support Services program and GEAR UP. To help low-income parents of young children be able to attend college, we are proposing to continue support for existing grants under the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools program at a cost of $15 million.

Supporting Institutions that Serve Disadvantaged Students

While providing access to postsecondary institutions remains critical to ensuring that students make a successful transition to the workforce, the quality of those institutions is equally important. The Administration is committed to expanding access to high-quality postsecondary education by strengthening the quality of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Historically Black Graduate Institutions (HBGIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and institutions that serve Alaska-Native and Native Hawaiian students. The President has pledged to increase funding for these institutions by 30 percent between 2001 and 2005. In keeping with this pledge, our fiscal year 2003 budget request includes an across-the-board 3.6 percent funding increase to improve the academic programs, administration, and fundraising capabilities of these institutions.

The Strengthening HBCUs and Strengthening HBGIs programs would receive $213.4 million and $50.8 million, respectively, increases of $7.4 million and $1.8 million. Howard University, which has served African American students in the Washington, DC area since 1867, would continue to receive $237.5 million. African Americans have historically lacked equal access to quality higher education, and these programs increase the capacity of HBCUs and HBGIs to provide high-quality academic programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to increasing numbers of African Americans

The Developing HSIs program would receive $89.1 million in fiscal year 2003, an increase of $3.1 million. A significant gap continues to exist between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students in areas of academic achievement, postsecondary enrollment, and life-long learning. Since Hispanics are the Nation's youngest and fastest-growing population group, this gap in education achievement may increase without intervention. The Developing HSIs program addresses this need by expanding and enhancing the academic offerings, program quality, and stability of postsecondary institutions that serve large numbers of Hispanic students.

The President's budget also includes $18.1 million for Strengthening TCCUs and $6.7 million for Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving Institutions. In addition, it includes $76.3 million, an increase of $2.7 million, for the Strengthening Institutions program to improve the academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability of a wide range of postsecondary institutions, the majority of them community colleges, that serve significant numbers of financially needy students. We are also requesting $8.5 million to continue support for the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program to improve science and engineering programs at postsecondary institutions with predominantly minority enrollments.

Other Institutional Programs

Although the effort to boost the quality of minority-serving institutions is an Administration priority, there are other education needs that must be addressed nationally, particularly in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks on the United States underscored the importance of strengthening American international expertise in world areas, economies, and foreign languages. As our Nation rebuilds and responds to these attacks, there are an increasing number of workforce needs that must be met. The 14 International Education and Foreign Language Studies programs supported under Title VI of the Higher Education Act and Fulbright-Hays are designed to meet these security and economic needs by developing and maintaining a high-level national capacity in foreign languages and area and international studies. The President's budget for 2003 bolsters these programs with an overall increase of $4 million, or 4.1 percent, for a total of $102.5 million.

In addition, our fiscal year 2003 budget request includes $39.1 million for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to support innovative postsecondary educational reform and improvement. FIPSE projects address a wide range of issues including the reform of curricula and instruction, especially through student-centered and technology mediated strategies; the design of more cost-effective methods of instruction and operation; the development of new ways to ensure equal student access, retention, and completion, especially for underrepresented students; the development of innovative distance-learning technologies and programs; and the international coordination of curricula and the exchange of students.

To enhance institutional efforts to meet the needs of low-income and first-generation college students, the President's 2003 budget continues support for TRIO's Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Centers, and McNair Postbaccaluareate Achievement programs. These programs provide a range of services, including tutoring, counseling, and assistance with enrollment and financial aid applications, and would continue to help approximately 391,000 disadvantaged students and adults. Data from our evaluation of the Student Support Services program indicate that the program has been highly successful, increasing postsecondary graduation rates by 9 percentage points over 6 years.

The Future

Even though the No Child Left Behind Act was the starting point for improving education in this country, the Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, and the Higher Education Act all have an important role to play. As we prepare for the reauthorization of these Acts, we will seek to build on the efforts of No Child Left Behind. Greater accountability is needed at the postsecondary level just as it is needed at the elementary and secondary levels, and improvements in academic preparation for and achievement in college are necessary to significantly increase postsecondary completion rates, ease transitions to the workplace, and sustain a high-caliber workforce. The Administration's fiscal year 2003 budget for the Office of Postsecondary Education represents a strong commitment to these principles by supporting programs that prepare students for college during their middle and high school years, open the door to college with financial assistance, and strengthen the quality of institutions of higher education.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today; that concludes my statement. My colleagues and I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have.

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