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HUD AWARDS $3 MILLION IN GRANTS TO LOW-INCOME GRADUATE STUDENTS

WASHINGTON --Housing and Urban Development Secretary Mel Martinez today announced nearly $3 million in grants to help graduate students preparing for careers in community planning and development. The grants will be awarded to 28 universities around the country and two area-wide planning organizations to benefit low-income and minority graduate students as they work toward their degrees and gain practical experience in their career field.

Provided under HUD's Community Development Work Study Program, the grants will supplement approximately 100 students' tuition, travel and books over the next two years.

"Our nation's greatest resource is our young people who will soon be the driving force behind revitalizing communities," said Martinez. "This funding will help a new generation of leaders who will be at the center of strengthening neighborhoods and communities across this country."

Colleges and universities use the program to offer financial aid and work experience to students enrolled in full-time graduate programs in community development or closely related fields such as urban planning, public policy or public administration. Schools select the students who will benefit from the work-study funding as well as secure work assignments and monitor student performance.

Grants are being awarded to schools in 23 States including Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. In addition, two regional planning agencies in the Washington, DC and North Central Texas metropolitan areas received grant funding.

HUD's Office of University Partnerships (OUP) reaches out to colleges and universities in a number of ways to help use public resources to engage institutions of higher education in programs of community planning and development. For more information about The Community Development Work Study Program, visit http://www.oup.org/about/cdwsp.html.

Specific award recipients are:

HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing minority homeownership, creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans, supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov.

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