Rubén Hinojosa: “last fall in preparation for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Members of the Congressional Hispanic…”

“last fall in preparation for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and I, along with several of our colleagues, introduced H.R. 2495, the Higher Education For the 21st Century Act. Not only do our colleagues want to express our concern and our support for this bill, but nationally, from West Coast to East Coast, I am happy to say that Latina Style Magazine, a national periodical, we have leaders like Edward James Olmos and Rita Moreno, who are expressing their support for access to higher education for all students to reach their full potential. Each mind is a world, they say, and this bill helps us in moving towards that end. Our bill would expand access to higher education for minority and disadvantaged students. I am pleased that the bill has over 55 cosponsors. Our intention in introducing the bill was for its provisions to be incorporated into the ATA reauthorization when the Committee on Education and the Workforce takes up the legislation next week in March. In crafting H.R. 2495, we did not seek to create any huge new programs or promote untested models for increasing access. Rather, we looked at the existing programs and determined how they could be modified to reach more students, especially those who are most disadvantaged or who are totally lacking in services. In some cases that meant asking for increased dollars.…”