DEPOSITED BY THE
UNITED STATES OF AMEROREWORD
In June of 1971, the Educational Opportunity Grants Program completed 5 years of
operation. Many of the thousands of the original group of grant recipients have finished
their studies and are now contributing to our society. The number of participating in-
stitutions has reached 2,045 and next year more than 2,200 institutions will extend the
opportunity of postsecondary education to nearly 300,000 high school graduates of
exceptional financial need. Indeed, this program has come of age and is playing a major
role in making higher education available to students through the efforts of the finan-
cial aid officers in our institutions of higher education.
In the Foreword of the first edition of the Educational Opportunity Grants Program
Manual, and in the body of the Manual itself, David Johnson eloquently defined the purpose
of the program and pointed the way toward its success. In this revision we have repeated
in the first three chapters much of the basic philosophy underlying the grant program.
This was deemed appropriate in view of lessons learned during the past 5 years and of
the large number of new financial aid officers who begin to operate the program each year.
We still feel that it is important to emphasize the needs of the students to be served as
well as the administrative procedures to be used. Thus, we are attempting to blend basic
philosophical principles as well as practical operational steps in this manual.
The provisions of this manual supercede all existing documents, including administrative
memoranda through 2-71. In reaching new decisions we are grateful for help from many
sources, including financial aid officers, the staffs of the ten Regional Offices of the
Office of Education, from our colleagues in the other programs in the Division of Student
Financial Aid and in the Division of Student Special Services. The Bureau of Higher
Education's legal counsel staff have contributed a great deal to the manual's final form
and content. The job of revising existing documents is never easy and doing it for the
EOG Program has been no exception. Miss Patricia Hopson and Mr. Richard McVity undertook
the early steps of revision and ably prepared the groundwork. Then, Mr. Richard Black
took full charge and has produced the document for your use. Mrs. Barbara Williams,
Mrs. Ailsa Hicks, Mrs. Sandra James, and Mrs. Harriett Richardson have spent long tedious
hours in manuscript preparation. Ultimately, lengthy conferences with all staff members
participating brought forth final approval of each part. Special mention is appropriate
for the help given by Dr. Robert Dickens of Duke University and Dr. Gary Louma of Emory
University on the section on fiscal management.
I am delighted to present this manual to you and I shall look forward to your comments and continued advice on future changes. All of us here hope sincerely that it will help us all to do a better job for potential Educational Opportunity Grants recipients.
Educational Opportunity Grants Branch
Division of Student Financial Aid