https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY1lZQBfm6E&feature=youtu.be
Maine U.S. Sen. Angus King, an independent, called on the U.S. Department of Education Wednesday to give the University of Maine at Presque Isle, and dozens of other institutions around the country, another chance at federal college-readiness funding.
The TRIO Upward Bound program helps low-income first generation students go to college. The U.S. Department of Education rejected UMPI's application based on a formatting error.
Maine's congressional delegation and others have urged the department to reverse that decision. Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, King said the situation is "preposterous."
"This isn't a game, this isn't gotcha," he said. "This is about real people, at the University of Maine in Presque Isle. It's 129 real people, and it's about their access to higher education, their access to a better life, their ability to achieve success."
UMPI and the other schools may have another chance. The federal budget released Sunday includes language that "strongly encourages" the department to allow schools to submit a corrected application — language that was secured by Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
