News Release - Congressman Chaka Fattah - Second District, Pennsylvania
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2006
CONTACT: Ron Goldwyn
215-387-6404 or 215-913-0972
 
Congressman Fattah to Speak at Yale
Saturday, Oct. 7 Speech Will Address Federal Financial Aid
 

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- Congressman Chaka Fattah, a nationally acclaimed champion of educational opportunity for young people across the socioeconomic spectrum, will speak at Yale University on Saturday, October 7, at 9 a.m., on the subject of federal financial aid for low income students.

Rep. Fattah will speak at the conference: “A Seat at the Table: Socioeconomic Diversity and Access to Selective Colleges and Universities.” The conference will be hosted by Yale University on Oct. 6-7 in New Haven, Connecticut, and sponsored by the Roosevelt Institution, the nation’s first student think tank.

The Congressman’s topic will be “Financial Aid and Its Discontents.” He will address federal financial aid, its impact and shortcomings for low income students aspiring to college. 

“A college education is literally a million dollar ticket to success, and we need all our young people to have the opportunity to cash that ticket,” Rep. Fattah said.

“The average college graduate will earn that much more over a lifetime than a student who stopped at high school. But education means more than making a living – it is the opportunity to make a difference. Our future as a society depends on every student, regardless of personal or family circumstances, having a chance to move ahead,” Rep. Fattah said. “We must extend middle class aspirations and opportunities for higher education far beyond the middle class.”

Rep. Fattah will join distinguished educators, college officials, policy makers and student leaders for the two-day conference aimed at undergraduate and graduate students. The lineup of speakers includes President Richard Levin of Yale University, President Anthony M. Marx of Amherst College, and William Bowen, former president of Princeton and president emeritus of the Mellon Foundation.

Demonstrating his commitment to equal opportunity, Rep. Fattah has reintroduced his “Student Bill of Rights,” HR 2178, in the 109th Congress.  This wide-ranging proposal calls for states to provide adequate resources for all students, schools and districts, regardless of wealth or tax base, enabling them to meet ambitious expectations.

The six term congressman has championed equal educational opportunity programs from pre-school to after-school to college preparedness to post-graduate assistance. He is the creator of GEAR UP, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, the largest pre-college awareness program in this nation's history contributing more than $2 billion toward the educational advancement of low-income students. 

As founder of both the CORE (College Opportunity and Resources for Education) Philly Scholarship program and the Fattah Conference on Higher Education, the Congressman has demonstrated his particular interest in Philadelphia’s future.

CORE Philly, which has become a nationwide model, guarantees that every Philadelphia high school graduate - public, private, charter, parochial – will be provided a "last dollar scholarship" to pursue higher education.

The Fattah Conference, organized by the Congressman 20 years ago as a young state legislator, shows minority and disadvantaged college students how they can continue on to graduate school. At this year’s Fattah Conference in Philadelphia, the Congressman took the concept one step further and arranged full scholarships for all 700 attendees to more than 20 colleges and universities in Pennsylvania if they win admission to graduate school.

For more information on the Congressman and his educational initiatives, visit www.house.gov/fattah.

Coverage Invited at Yale…

For Credentials and Media Contacts:

Andrew Cox of Roosevelt Institution  805-455-4074.
Tom Conroy of Yale University 203-432-4482 

 
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Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) • www.house.gov/fattah
2301 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 • 4104 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: (202) 225-4001 • (215) 387-6404
 
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