Federal agency will reconsider UMaine at Presque Isle grants rejected for line-spacing error

The U.S. Department of Education will reconsider awarding grants to dozens of programs that help low-income students prepare for college after their initial applications were rejected due to formatting errors such as not being double-spaced, a House subcommittee was told Wednesday.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos was asked about the 77 rejected applications from universities and other organizations that administer Upward Bound programs as she testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s application for two grants under the fiscal 2017 Upward Bound program competition were among those affected.

The agency can now reconsider those applications, because Congress included an additional $50 million in funding.

Maine’s congressional delegation has repeatedly raised the issue with DeVos. “We worked tirelessly to reverse this senseless bureaucratic decision that jeopardized … hundreds of students in Maine …,” said Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Bruce Poliquin and Chellie Pingree jointly.

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