U.S. Department of Education Assistant Secretary Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana will keynote the 2011 High School Equivalency Program/College Assistance Migrant Program (HEP/CAMP) Directors Meeting this Thursday, July 21, in Alexandria, Va. Meléndez will provide general updates about the Department’s Migrant Education Program. In addition, she will discuss the educational priorities of the Administration and the Department’s technical assistance efforts to support migrant students. Meléndez also will address the Administration’s blueprint for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and its impact on migrant students.
HEP and the CAMP serve students from migrant or seasonal farm worker families. HEP serves more than 7,000 students annually who have dropped out of high school but are completing their GEDs. CAMP assists students in their first year of college with academic, personal and financial support. CAMP serves approximately 2,400 migrant participants annually. HEP and CAMP are both funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Migrant Education and are administered by universities, colleges and nonprofit organizations nationwide.