I am writing out of deep frustration and anger at the U.S. Department of Education’s decision to cut funding for the River Valley Upward Bound program at the University of Maine at Farmington. This short-sighted decision is not just about numbers on a federal budget line it’s about real students in rural Maine who now face another door slammed shut on their futures. Upward Bound has been a lifeline for first-generation and low-income students for decades. It has encouraged teenagers who might otherwise feel forgotten to see themselves not only as high school graduates but as college students, tradespeople, and Source