Susan Collins Receives 2005 Henry T. Yost Congressional Recognition Award

Washington, D.C.—The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) awarded he Henry T. Yost Award to Senator Susan Collins of Maine on June 9. The Association honors selected members of Congress with the Yost award in recognition of their outstanding leadership on behalf of higher education.

In conferring the award, the AAUP's Committee on Government Relations highlighted Senator Collins's longstanding commitment to enhancing the Pell Grant program, and especially noted her leadership this spring in protecting student aid programs in the budget resolution debate, and her important role in the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

AAUP president Jane Buck presented the award, commending Collins for her work on behalf of students and higher education. "Your leadership in gathering bi-partisan support for the amendment restoring several million dollars for student aid programs played an instrumental role in preserving as much of these vital programs as possible in a very difficult budget time," Buck said.

"Senator Collins recognizes the vital importance of a college education in today's world," continued Buck. "As she wrote in her weekly column for Maine newspapers in January, 'education and training beyond high school are increasingly the keys to economic opportunity. A college degree or other advanced training opens the door to greater economic success and a chance to participate more fully in the American dream.'"

Collins also recognizes that now is the time to reverse the decline in the purchasing power of the Pell Grant. The first piece of legislation Senator Collins introduced this year was a resolution calling for an immediate increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to $4500, and authorizing a doubling of that amount to $9000 in five years. Collins stated that although it is "truly a federal investment that pays for itself over the long run," it is an issue that directly affects individual students. Commenting on the last four years during which funding for the maximum Pell Grant has not increased, she wrote "think of the students who might have entered college and graduated with a degree, if only they had received additional Pell Grant aid."

The Henry T. Yost Congressional Recognition Award was established in 1980 in honor of Henry (Tom) Yost, who served as the chair of the AAUP's Committee on Government Relations for a number of years and then as president of the Association. For more information about this award or these issues, visit the AAUP's government relations web site or contact Mark Smith, 202-737-5900, ext. 3042.

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