They brought in 14 other organizations. So let me thank the Ford Foundation, the Irvine Foundation, the GE Fund, the Knowledge Works Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and Lucent Technologies for creating the Pathway to College Network. The foundations represented here today understand that the partnership is the key to success. So I m thrilled that you have formed the Pathways to College Network, and I believe your work will have a positive impact on young people for many years to come. I ve seen many excellent efforts to help prepare children from all backgrounds to get on the path to college.
Foundations sponsor excellent programs.
The U.S. Department of Education, through our GEAR UP and TRIO programs, is encouraging disadvantaged students and their families to prepare academically and financially for college. And we ve all heard the inspiring stories of private citizens, some of whom have surprisingly modest incomes, who have funded scholarships to send disadvantaged students to college. But until the Pathways to College Network was formed, I couldn t be sure that these efforts to increase college-going opportunities would grow and be sustained. So I am grateful not only that you are investing in education, but also that you have formed a partnership so that your investment will have a sustained and powerful pay-off. And while I m talking about sustaining these efforts, I want to thank Occidental College, which is using one of our grants to support the Pathways to College Network.