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September 30, 2003—The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would reinstate funding for EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) graduate fellowship program in FY 2004 (S. 1584, S. Rpt. 108-143). The House of Representatives approved similar legislation in July (H.R. 2861; H. Rpt. 108-235). The President's budget request would have cut funding for STAR fellowships by 50 percent, from $9.75 million in FY 2003 to $4.88 million in FY 2004.
STAR is the only federal fellowship program designed exclusively for students pursing advanced degrees in environmental sciences. From 1995 to 2001, EPA funded over 800 STAR fellows at 168 colleges and universities. The STAR fellowship program is highly competitive, with only 7 percent of applicants being awarded fellowships.
Last year, the President's FY 2003 budget request proposed cutting all funding for EPA's STAR graduate fellowship program. The National Council for Science and the Environment led a campaign that generated thousands of letters, faxes, emails, and phone calls asking Congress to restore funding for STAR fellowships in FY 2003. Congress eventually restored full funding for the program, but EPA had already cancelled the competition for new fellowships by the time Congress completed action on the appropriations bill. NCSE is working to restore full funding for the program again in FY 2004.
EPA appropriations will not be finalized until the FY 2004 appropriations bill is reconciled by a House-Senate conference committee, approved in identical form by both chambers, and signed into law by the President.
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