By Scott Unger
August 3, 2008
Kentucky State University will receive $3 million " $500,000 annually for six years " because of new federal legislation for graduate programs at historically black colleges and universities.
The grant is embodied in legislation passed Thursday by Congress. A provision in the Higher Education Reauthorization and College Opportunity Act of 2008 provides funding to 18 Historically Black Colleges and Universities around the nation to expand their graduate programs.
"Our Aquaculture and Environmental Sciences masters programs will benefit from this legislation for decades to come, and our communities will benefit from a new generation of KSU graduates of these programs," KSU President Mary Evans Sias said in a press release.
Although the funding is dedicated to science based grad programs, that term is broadly used and includes majors such as nursing, mathematics and computer science.
Similar legislation has provided funding for HBCUs for decades, but KSU was not eligible to participate until last year, when the U. S. Senate passed an amendment introduced by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) that included the university.
"Over the past two years, I have worked with Dr. Sias and officials at Kentucky State University to help strengthen the school's growing graduate programs," McConnell said in a press release.
The bill, now awaiting President Bush's signature, is designed to make it easier for low income and non-traditional students to attend college.
It allows students to receive Pell grant assistance year round, creates a new scholarship for military personnel, holds universities accountable for tuition hikes and provides students with advance notice of textbook costs to better plan ahead, along with other provisions.
KSU received more good news this week, as the university was named one of the best colleges in the southeast by the Princeton Review. The university was one of 139 colleges representing the southeast and one of 632 recognized nationally.
The Review selects colleges based on academic records and anonymous surveys completed by students. The surveys noted KSU's diverse population, convenience, cost efficiency and proximity to home as the college's strengths.
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Sunday, August 3rd 2008 at 6:31PM
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