093_HR0064
LRB093 08391 HSS 11193 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, Our nation has asserted a commitment to
3 providing educational opportunity for all Americans
4 regardless of race, ethnic background, or economic
5 circumstance; and
6 WHEREAS, In support of this commitment, Congress
7 established a series of programs to help low-income Americans
8 enter college, graduate, and move on to participate more
9 fully in America's economic and social life; the programs are
10 funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and
11 are referred to as the TRIO programs, initially just three
12 programs were available; while financial aid programs help
13 students overcome financial barriers to higher education,
14 TRIO programs help students overcome class, social, and
15 cultural barriers to higher education; and
16 WHEREAS, Over 1,900 TRIO programs currently serve over
17 746,000 low-income Americans between the ages of 11 and 27;
18 many programs serve students in grades six through 12; over
19 1,200 colleges, universities, community colleges, and
20 community agencies offer TRIO programs in America; TRIO funds
21 are distributed to institutions through competitive grants;
22 and
23 WHEREAS, Students in the Upward Bound program are four
24 times more likely to earn an undergraduate degree than
25 students from similar backgrounds who did not participate in
26 TRIO; nearly 20 percent of all African-American and Hispanic
27 freshmen who entered college in 1981 received assistance
28 through the TRIO Talent Search or Economic Opportunity
29 Centers programs; students in the TRIO Student Support
30 Services program are more than twice as likely to remain in
31 college than those students from similar backgrounds who did
32 not participate in the program; and
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1 WHEREAS, TRIO college graduates are working in business,
2 industry, government, medicine, law, education,
3 communications, sales, finance, politics, transportation,
4 publishing, law enforcement, computer science and technology,
5 engineering, and accounting; and
6 WHEREAS, National TRIO Day is celebrated the last
7 Saturday of the month of February; each year, colleges from
8 the central part of the State of Illinois gather at the State
9 Capitol to celebrate and commemorate TRIO Day; this year, the
10 colleges will meet at the Capitol on Friday, February 21;
11 therefore, be it
12 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
14 we recognize the value and importance of TRIO programs to
15 low-income students in Illinois and we commend participating
16 Illinois universities, colleges, and community agencies for
17 their support of TRIO programs; and be it further
18 RESOLVED, That we name Saturday, February 22, 2003 TRIO
19 Day in the State of Illinois.