Upward Bound, Talent Search and Gear-Up college access programs, will be cut completely if President George W. Bush's 2006 budget cuts go through, said Susan Trebach, vice president of communications at the Council for Opportunity in Education.
More than 47,000 California high school and middle school students are currently in such programs as Upward Bound and Talent Search, Trebach said.
Additionally, nearly 500,000 students are in college access programs nationwide.
In California alone, these programs can be found on 135 campuses, including San Jose State University.
The three college access programs are designed to increase the accessibility of first-generation students.
First-generation students are those whose parents never went to college.
Despite their success, the programs would be completely cut and funding would cease at the end of the 2005-06 academic year.
"Eighty-one percent of students stay in college who are involved in Upward Bound, and 71 percent complete their degree," said Lizeth Sanchez, outreach specialist for the Education Talent Search program.
Postsecondary college enrollment for Talent Search is 100 percent for the past two years, Sanchez said, meaning students go to college after high school.
These programs help them reach college by providing assistance in completing college applications and financial aid forms.
They also provide assistance in preparation for college entrance exams, offering tutorial services, mentoring programs and information on postsecondary education opportunities.
"These students need mentoring and encouragement in preparing for and applying to college because their families have so few resources," said Dr. Arnold L. Mitchem, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education.
The programs are also designed to inform parents, who have never been to college, about the experience.
"We try to empower the parents to know about the college experience and to know what their children are going to go through," said Blanca Sanchez, academic coordinator for the office of pre-college programs.
The programs at SJSU work with 150 students from the Eastside School District.
"They are the ones who are going to be most affected," Sanchez said.
Talent Search encourages students from disadvantaged backgrounds to graduate from high school and continue on to college.
Andrew Hill High School, Independence High School, Mount Pleasant High School and Silver Creek High School all participate in the Talent Search program.
"If these programs are cut, our backup plan is to find alternative sources of funding," Sanchez said.
Some students will undoubtedly end up going to college, Trebach said. But they would no longer receive the mentoring, counseling and tutoring services provided by these programs.
The basic goal of these programs is "to increase students' accessibility into college for those students who don't have education history in their families," Sanchez said.