Sen. Jeff Bingaman has introduced legislation to change the way New Mexico's Hispanic-serving institutions, including UNM, are dealt with by the federal government.
Bingaman spoke about the proposed legislation at the SUB on Friday.
Federal funding for Hispanic-serving institutions sets aside $96 million for undergraduate programs.
Under the proposal, the total will be raised to $175 million, and $125 million would be used to fund graduate programs.
"It would provide money for use by graduate students," Bingaman said. "It will also eliminate some of the bureaucratic obstacles that have made it difficult for schools like the University of New Mexico to participate to get funding."
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Bingaman said the proposal eliminates a two-year waiting period before receiving funds from the federal government.
"There is also a current requirement that 50 percent of Hispanic students be low-income in order to qualify for funding, and we're going to eliminate that requirement," he said.
UNM President Louis Caldera said the bill is important to the University and other Hispanic-serving institutions.
"Hispanic Americans have the lowest participation level in higher education and an even lower level in grad school participation," Caldera said.
The bill will encourage more Hispanics to enter graduate school, Caldera said.
Bingaman said the bill received bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison from Texas, who is the co-author of the proposal. Bingaman said various schools in Texas will also benefit from the changes.
He said he has high hopes for the bill's passage.
"We're going to reauthorize the Higher Education Act in Congress, and my hope is we can include this in that legislation," he said. "I'm on the education committee in the Senate that will be doing that work, so I'm optimistic."
Bingaman said President Bush's budget plan would reduce funding for graduate programs in the country.
"We are going to sturdily resist those cuts," he said. "The administration seems to think they can take a year off to take a break from funding, but they can't."
Another topic Bingaman presented to the crowd of more than 100 was providing lottery scholarships to children of illegal immigrants.
"That's an issue before the state Legislature right now," he said, adding he hopes the bill will pass.
Student Noe Quinonez said he was 9 years old when he moved from Mexico to Deming, N.M., with his family. He said the American school system was intimidating.
"It was a challenge learning English and getting through school," he said.
Quinonez said the Special Programs Office at UNM, a department that helps students navigate their way through college, gave him the courage to stay in school.
He said he was inspired by the office to create a program called Planning Awareness for College Education at UNM and NMSU to help promote higher education for Hispanics.
Funding for these programs would be reduced with Bush's budget proposal.
"There are passionate people who have spent years working in these programs," Quinonez said. "Those people are the ones who make a difference. It would be a shame for these programs to be cut."
