HUD AWARDS GRANT TO UNIVERSITY OF AUBURN TO PREPARE LOW-INCOME GRADUATE STUDENTS FOR CAREERS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Grant is Among Nearly $3 Million Awarded Nationwide

BIRMINGHAM - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez today announced that HUD will award $150,000 to Auburn University to help graduate students prepare for careers in community planning and
development.

The grant to Auburn is part of some $3 million in grants HUD announced today to 19 universities around the country
to benefit low-income and minority graduate students as they work toward their degrees and gain practical experience in their career field.

The Community Development Work Study Program grants will supplement approximately 95 students' tuition, travel and books during the next two years.

"Today's students will become tomorrow's greatest resource for revitalizing our nation's communities," said Martinez. "The Bush Administration is committed to creating a new generation of leaders who will work to strengthen our neighborhoods and communities."

Colleges and universities use the grants to offer financial aid and work experience to students enrolled in full-time graduate programs in community development or closely related fields such as urban planning, public policy or public administration.

Schools select the students who will benefit from the work-study funding as well as secure work assignments and monitor student performance. Grants are being awarded to schools in Alabama, California, District of Columbia,
Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Vermont and Washington.

The awards are made by HUD's Office of University Partnerships, which reaches out to colleges and universities in a number of ways to help use public resources to engage institutions of higher education in programs of community planning and development. For more information about the work study program.

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing minority homeownership, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation's
fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet.

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Project Name: Auburn University
Grant Amount: $150,000
Address: 8030 Haley Center
              Auburn University, AL 36849

Auburn University will support students beginning in August 2003 and ending in August of 2005. Auburn's workstudy program will target students who are interested in the university's Master of Public Administration (MPA), Master of Community Planning (MCP) or the dual MPA-MCP degree, in conjunction with the Auburn's unique Graduate Minor in Economic Development. Each degree program provides an excellent academic foundation for students interested in community building careers. The practical work experience provided by the CDWS program will support and complement the student's academic activities and classes.

The number, quality, and variety of the student work placements proposed for this project is exceptional. When the students complete all their placements they will have obtained work experiences from a wide variety of agencies and organizations, ranging from well established, highly successful city agencies to a regional development organization.

2003 Community Development Work Study Program recipients.