Washington — The U.S. Education Department is rejecting a $300,000-a-year grant application, from a Massachusetts program that has helped thousands of needy students attend college, because it was filed 46 minutes too late.
Diane A. Jones, the assistant secretary for postsecondary education, wrote a letter this week to Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the Senate’s education committee, saying she cannot allow an exception for the Choice Thru Education program.
“We regret that Choice Thru Education was not able to submit a valid application before the established closing date and time requirement,” Ms. Jones said in the letter, dated Thursday, “but the department does not have the discretion to waive the deadline nor the flexibility to alter Grants.gov requirements.”
The department’s response was initially reported by The Boston Globe, which describes Choice Thru Education as a 40-year-old program that has provided low-income students with tutoring, career counseling, and classes for the high-school-equivalency test. It has helped students attend such institutions as Dartmouth, Duke, Tufts, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Globe said.
Annual applications for grants under the Upward Bound program were due by 4:30 p.m. on November 6, 2006. Federal officials extended the deadline by one day after acknowledging that problems with their Grants.gov Web site had blocked outside users. Choice Thru Education — after reporting further problems using the system that Ms. Jones said were not the government’s responsibility — submitted its application, for a four-year grant worth $1.2-million, at 5:16 p.m. on November 7. Grants.gov has drawn regular criticism for problems using it.
Sen. John F. Kerry, another Massachusetts Democrat, said he saw an ideological motive behind the department’s decision to deny Choice Thru Education the funds it needs to survive. “They bend the rules and break the rules for their cronies, but they’re unwilling to protect the people who most need it,” Mr. Kerry told the Globe. “We think it’s disgraceful.” —Paul Basken
