Frist Applauds Education Secretary's Announcement of Smart Grant Guidelines

FRIST APPLAUDS EDUCATION SECRETARY'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF SMART GRANT GUIDELINES

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., (R-Tenn.) today made the following statement regarding Education Secretary Margaret Spellings' announcement of guidelines under which college students can qualify for the Frist-authored SMART grant program. The first SMART grants will be available this fall, and Congress has approved a total of $3.75 billion for SMART and Academic Competitiveness grants over the next five years:

"Today, thousands of motivated students from underserved communities are one step closer to receiving the resources they need to pursue studies in math, science, engineering, technology and foreign languages.

"The SMART grant program will help America maintain its competitive edge in the global economy and help young people realize their educational and professional goals. I made SMART grants one of my top education priorities, and I am pleased to see the program's goals coming to fruition.

"I commend Secretary Spellings for acting so quickly to make SMART grants available to talented American students, and I encourage students to take advantage of this great opportunity."

The guidelines announced today specify requirements by which Pell grant-eligible college students can qualify for the $4,000 SMART grants in their third and fourth years of study.

In addition to holding at least a 3.0 grade point average, students must be pursuing a major in math, science, engineering, technology or foreign languages critical to national security. A full list of approved majors is located at www.ifap.ed.gov.

http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=2367&Month=5&Year=2006