WASHINGTON, D.C. — A minor, unintentional line-spacing problem in the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s application for the Upward Bound Grant Program could prevent 960 disadvantaged high school students from accessing funding they need to attend college, the state’s congressional delegation said Friday in a news release.
Upon learning that UMPI was not permitted to correct the application, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King and Reps. Bruce Poliquin and Chellie Pingree sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos Friday to express their concern that the U.S. Department of Education department had refused to review UMPI’s application for two grants under the fiscal year 2017 Upward Bound Program competition because of the line-spacing issue.
The line-spacing error — which involves text that is 1.5 line spaced instead of double spaced, as was requested in the notice for applications — appeared in two information graphics on two of the application’s 65 pages, the delegation said.
“These info-graphics are intended to help the reader review the application efficiently and more easily,” the delegation wrote. “ … Were they removed, or were UMPI permitted to adjust the line spacing on these two pages, the application would easily warrant the department’s review.
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