Ivette Benitez was 6 when her family left the winding streets of her hometown in northern Mexico to live in the United States. Although her parents decided to leave Zacatecas to give their children a better life, college wasn't the first thing on their minds.
Benitez said she would probably be working at a local grocery store if her Colusa High School counselor hadn't mentioned a program that would change her life and shape her future.
Benitez first heard about Upward Bound in the ninth grade.
"They helped me get a whole bunch of scholarships," she said. "They showed me what to do and always made sure I was doing everything on time."
Benitez, 22, is majoring in nursing at Chico State and is the treasurer for the Upward Bound Alumni Association. She is the first person in her family to attend college and said she hopes she will not be the last.
Not only was Benitez able to prepare for college with workshops and college-based classes, she was able to meet students like her.
"I met my best friend there," she said, "and now we're roommates. I wouldn't have met her if it weren't for Upward Bound."
Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search will be eliminated if Congress passes President George W. Bush's budget proposal, which cuts 150 government-funded programs.
"It makes me sad because I have two little sisters that want to join up with (Upward Bound)," Benitez said. "They're shutting down an important (program for) first-generation students."
If these programs are cut, students and the college as a whole will be hurt, said John Swiney, director of admissions.
Recruitment programs, such as Educational Talent Search and Upward Bound, bring more students to Chico State.
"That's a big help to this university," Swiney said.
There are about 900 students from grades six to 12 in Educational Talent Search and 235 students from grades eight to 11 in Upward Bound each year.
"So many of our students never considered college before they got involved with Talent Search," said Allan Bee, director of Educational Talent Search. "If Talent Search goes away there will be some 900 families immediately where the dream of a college education will be put in jeopardy."
The dream will not just be lost for the students but for the whole family, Bee said.
"I'm very concerned," Bee said. "I'm worried students will lose out when the number crunching goes down. There's so much of the pie that is up for grabs right now and unfortunately lots of people are trying to grab it."
Since about 40 percent of all eligible participants ultimately enroll at Chico State, first-year student enrollment might be affected as well, Swiney said.
"It does make it more of a challenge to meet the freshman admission goals," he said.
Although the programs are not based on ethnicity, they bring diversity to campus, Bee said.
"(The) diversity of family and educational backgrounds and diversity of economic backgrounds and experiences," Swiney said. "It's that diversity that will be reduced on campus."
If other outreach programs were created, Chico State wouldn't have the funding to maintain them, Swiney said.
"It takes a tremendous amount of funding," Swiney said. "No program is going to have the funding without the federal government helping."
If these programs are eliminated, Chico State will lose about $1.6 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education and other outside sources.
"I think ultimately these programs will be refunded but not without all of us rising to the occasion and letting the core people know how important these programs are," Swiney said.
Not only will the college lose funding, but local businesses will, since each student spends about $7,000 a year on non-school-related things, Bee said.
"It trickles down to the community," he said.
There will also be more than 70 student jobs lost. Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search employ 35 students during the school year and 44 during the summer.
The No Child Left Behind budget was revised to include a new $1.5 billion high school performance program and expanded Pell Grants for low-income college students, according to the 2006 budget fact sheet.
"Expanding the Pell Grant program is very important, however cutting programs to do that is not the way to expand it," said Nicole DeMartini, Associated Students director of legislative affairs. DeMartini also said the proposal will only increase the Pell Grant $500 over five years.
"It's almost misleading for students," she said. "They're thinking they're getting something when they're really losing something."
Shannon Savage can be reach at
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