PORTLAND, Maine - The University of Maine and the University of Maine at Presque Isle will receive more than $2 million from the U.S. Department of Education over the next five years to help low income children attend college.
The grants will fund the Talent Search Program, a national program that seeks to break the cycle of poverty by helping low-income children become the first in their families to attend college.
The University of Maine's Karen Keim says the program teaches kids in sixth through twelfth grade how to prepare for college.
"That they really need to challenge themselves, that attendance in school is their job, doing well, they should treat it like it's a job," Keim says. "So we start giving them skill sets, like studying, how to read a textbook, how do you take notes for a class, how do you find the important points."
The program also counsels families on how to pay for college through savings accounts, loans, and scholarships. Keim says the university has received funding for the Talent Search Program since the 1970s, and about 60 percent of participants graduate with a four-year college degree.
