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For nearly 30 years, thousands of low-income students who aspire to being the first in their family to attend college have made their way to San Jose State University for help through Upward Bound. Now, President Bush's proposal to eliminate federal funding in 2006 for Upward Bound and other key college outreach programs has educators worried that some of those students will miss out on a college opportunity. Upward Bound works through universities, including Stanford and National Hispanic universities, and community agencies. It assists students in schools with high poverty rates who are low-income or who would be the first in their family to go to college. "These programs are critical because school districts like East Side are cutting counseling and library services, so a lot of our outreach personnel are being reduced due to the current budget crisis," said Art Darin, chief academic officer for the East Side Union High School District. Darin said loss of the federal programs would mean the students who need help the most may not get the information about or access to college they need. Upward Bound was created as part of President Johnson's "War on Poverty." It provides students with intensive college preparation. At San Jose State, Upward Bound serves 150 students a year from six East Side high schools. Most of the students are Latino, African-American and Asian-American. [more]