WINONA LAKE - Congressman Mark Souder announced Monday that $650,000 has been earmarked for Grace College from the fiscal year 2008 budget.
Souder made the announcement during a press conference Monday at the Orthopaedic Capital Center in Winona Lake.
Souder said there were two appropriations for the college earmarked by the House Appropriations Committee, and still need to be approved by the Senate.
The two appropriations earmarked for Grace College are $200,000 to assist lower-income students with attending college, and $450,000 for the college to develop an emergency response training center.
The center would train emergency response teams at the Orthopaedic Capital Center.
The $200,000 is part of a funding bill called Labor Health and Human Services, approved last week by the House of Representatives.
The Senate will discuss the appropriation in September.
The Appropriations Committee approved the $450,000 for the proposed emergency response center July 12. The House will discuss the appropriation Wednesday.
If approved by the House, the Senate will vote on the amount funded by the Department of Commerce and Justice bill in September.
Earlier this year, Grace College administration discussed with Souder the technological challenges associated with expanding the college's ability to offer educational opportunities to minority, disadvantaged and non-traditional students.
The funding, if approved, would allow the campus to provide technological upgrades on its campus, Grace College President Ron Manahan said.
He said if the appropriations were approved, upgrades will help the college provide more non-traditional education opportunities for students, such as evening and weekend classes and distance-learning courses.
The upgrades also will help the college fully use the fiber optic rings offered by Indiana, which connects Indiana colleges and universities electronically.
"We are thankful for the opportunity for the college to receive these funds and we will wait for the process for the appropriations to be approved at the federal level," Manahan said.
Souder said it is a great accomplishment for a college to receive two earmarks in one year.
"The earmarks are a testament to the college that has community leadership," Souder said.
