CUOMO ANNOUNCES $3 MILLION TO HISPANIC-SERVING COMMUNITY COLLEGES TO HELP 114 STUDENTS BEGIN CAREERS IN COMMUNITY SERVICE

(Spanish Version)

WASHINGTON -- In a meeting today with leaders of national Hispanic organizations, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo announced $3 million in HUD grants to assist 114 students at 13 community colleges that serve significant numbers of Hispanic students.

Grants are going to colleges in: California (4 colleges); Chicago; Denver; Espanola, NM; New York City, Paterson, NJ; Puerto Rico (2 colleges); and Texas (2 colleges). (See full list of winners at end of release).

The HUD program, called the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Work Study Program, assists students hoping to establish careers in community service, Cuomo and HUD Deputy Secretary Designee Saul Ramirez said. All students receiving grants under the program are from low-income families and many are Hispanic.

"HUD is partnering with these colleges to help train a new generation of professionals who will work to revitalize cities and towns in the 21st century," Cuomo said. "This investment will build better futures not just for the students involved, but for the communities around the nation where they will work."

"This assistance will prove invaluable for a new generation of young community leaders, many from the Hispanic community," said Ramirez, a former Mayor of Laredo, TX, who was named by Newsweek magazine "One of the Nation's 25 Most Dynamic Mayors" in 1996.

Under the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Work Study Program, community colleges receiving grants offer programs that prepare students for careers in community development, administration of justice, early childhood education and social service delivery. The 114 students being helped through the new grants will bring the total number of students assisted through the HUD program since it was established to more than 300.

Under the program, approximately 9 students at each of the 13 community colleges will receive money for tuition and books, as well as stipends for up to 20 hours of work during the school year and 40 hours of work during the summer. Each student can receive a maximum of $12,200 for each of the two years it takes to complete an associate degree.

The Hispanic-Serving Institutions Work Study Program is the only HUD program focused solely on community colleges and targeted specifically to Latino-serving schools and the populations they serve.

Cuomo and Ramirez announced the work study grants in a meeting with the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, a coalition made up of leaders from major national Hispanic organizations including the National Council of La Raza; the League of United Latin American Citizens; the National Association of Latino Elected Officials; the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities; and the National Association of Hispanic Publishers.

In addition to the grants for Hispanic-serving institutions, Cuomo and Ramirez today announced $3.6 million in grants for colleges and universities in 31 communities under the Department's Community Development Work Study program (see separate release).

Community colleges chosen on a competitive basis to receive new Hispanic-Serving Institutions Work Study Program Grants are:

• Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Los Angeles, CA - $237,600
• East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park, CA - $234,450
• Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA - $237,600
• Los Angeles Harbor College, Wilmington, CA - $237,600
• Community College of Denver, Denver, CO - $225,180
• St. Augustine College, Chicago, IL - $237,600
• Passaic County Community College, Paterson, NJ - $158,400
• Northern New Mexico Community College, Espanola, NM - $237,600
• Fiorella LaGuardia Community College, New York City (Queens) - $150,780
• Colegio Tecnològico del Municipio San Juan, San Juan, Puerto Rico - $211,392
• Colegio Universitario del Este, Carolina, Puerto Rico -- $214,920
• San Antonio College, San Antonio, TX - $237,600
• Southwest Texas Junior College, Uvalde, TX - $197,604