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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Robinson

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/7/06

HB

SHORT TITLE UNM College Preparatory Mentoring Program

SB 440

ANALYST Lewis

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

150.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to HB 169/SB 35 (NMSU Enlace Program).

Relates to HB209/SB 36 (Post-Secondary School Enlace Programs).

Relates to HB 829 (

UNM Law School Child Mentoring Programs

).

Relates to SB 181 (

UNM Law School Mentoring Programs

).

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Public Education Department (PED)

Higher Education Department (HED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 440 appropriates $150,000 from the general fund to the Board of Regents of the Uni-

versity of New Mexico to support the university’s Special Programs Office implementation of

college preparatory mentoring programs for eighth graders in the Albuquerque public school sys-

tem.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $150,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

Senate Bill 440 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Higher Education Department (HED),

the purpose of this program is to bridge

students from eighth grade into high school while educating them on how to achieve a post-

secondary degree. It is designed to provide opportunities, education, and career awareness. Each

student will be assigned a college mentor from a similar background. The mentors will meet with

their students throughout the school year to expose them to college life, the application process,

financial aid, class registration, coursework, ACT preparation, and on-campus work experience.

Between 200-300 students will participate in this program.

This request was not on the list of priority projects submitted by UNM to the HED for review

and was not included in the HED’s funding recommendation for FY07.

According to the Public Education Department (PED), this program targets mostly low-income,

students whose parents did not attend college. A major component of the program will be to pro-

vide each student with a college mentor of similar background. Mentors will meet with their stu-

dents throughout the year. Students will be exposed to college life, application process, financial

aid process, registration for classes, coursework, work experiences on campus and engage in

ACT preparation, team building and leadership activities.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

PED notes that, although

this bill has no direct impact on PED’s core performance measures,

there is a relationship with the success of this program and the department’s education reform

initiatives.

ML/nt