The following column appeared in the March 31, 2006, edition of the Austin American-Statesman. It can be viewed on the newspaper's website by clicking here.

During spring break this month, five high school students from Williamson County, Texas, got to do something they had never done before: fly on an airplane.

They weren’t heading to the beach, though. They went to Washington, D.C., to see the White House, the Capitol and the Smithsonian Museum. While they were on the East Coast, they took a train to New York to visit the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and Ground Zero.

For all five students, it was the first time they had been outside of the Austin area.

Trips such as this are just one of the many experiences provided by Upward Bound, the federal program created in 1965 to increase the number of high school students attending college from low-income families and families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree.

The program also provides classes – both during the school year and in the summer, tutoring, academic advising, SAT preparation classes, college visits and workshops on how to get into college. It also works with parents who might be hesitant about sending their children to college.

Unfortunately, however, the Upward Bound program is one of several education programs that have been targeted for elimination by the current administration for two years in a row. Program critics say the results can’t be documented.

This isn’t the case in Central Texas, though. The area is home to three Upward Bound programs – at Huston-Tillotson University, Southwestern University and Texas State University. Together, these programs serve 260 students in grades 9-12 who have never had a family member attend college.

Southwestern University has hosted an Upward Bound program on its campus since 1999. This spring, a student from the program’s inaugural class will become the first to receive a college degree. Eva Malone of Granger will be graduating from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville with a degree in criminal justice. She hopes to land a permanent job with the agency where she interned, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville.

Many other program graduates have gone on to college since Eva. In 2004, 100 percent of our graduates enrolled in college. In 2005, 85 percent did the same. Three of our 2005 graduates even had good enough grades to be accepted at Southwestern University, one of the state’s most selective universities. Among them was Darlene Thompson. Darlene had almost dropped out of the Upward Program when I started as director in 2003. Working intensely with her on college applications, essays and financial aid applications, Darlene not only got into Southwestern, but she received a scholarship that will cover her tuition and fees for four years. Last semester she made the dean’s list, and now she is thinking about joining the Peace Corps or pursuing a similar career in which she could help improve others’ lives.

Another three Upward Bound participants have recently been offered admission to Southwestern for this fall. Oscar Aviles, Jessica Gallegos and Tim Wood are among the five students who participated in the recent trip to Washington and New York, a trip that was a reward for earning good grades this past year. Oscar wants to pursue a career in engineering, and Jessica and Tim hope to study medicine.

Accompanying these students on the trip to Washington, it was amazing to see the changes that took place in just three and a half days. Students who had never been on a plane before are now talking about going back and perhaps even doing internships in the nation’s capital. They now realize that they are part of a much bigger world.

It’s an incredible experience to be involved with a program like this and to know that through it, I can facilitate changes in the lives of these children. They still have to do the work, but a little encouragement can go a long way.

Lorna Hermosura is director of the Upward Bound Program at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. To see all the colleges that graduates of this program have gone to, visit www.southwestern.edu/academic/ub/