Dr. Buffy Smith, dean of Dougherty Family College, recently wrote an op-ed for Diverse: Issues in Higher Education on how a proposed budget cut to TRIO programs could shut the door on opportunity and erode the strength of the American middle class.
From the story:
As a child growing up in public housing in Milwaukee, I believed going to college would be my pathway out of poverty. It was. But I didn’t get there alone. In addition to supportive family, I relied on the TRIO-Educational Opportunity Program to help me navigate the system of higher education. Today, that program is in jeopardy of being cut from the federal government’s budget. Cutting it would not only limit college access for more than 880,000 students – it would also weaken America.
Nearly 37 million people in the U.S. live in poverty and more than half of Americans don’t have a college degree. The median annual salary Americans earn is about $62,000 but rises to $90,000 with a college degree. The U.S. is slipping in global rankings for postsecondary degree attainment. For America to stay competitive, we must remain committed to college access.
