In his State of the Union message Tuesday, President Bush proposed to increase federal support for community colleges to provide job training. He also proposed increasing the amounts of Pell Grants for secondary-school students who take "demanding" college-preparatory courses.

However, Mr. Bush left the details for later: He spoke about higher-education issues for only a few moments during his 54-minute speech, which focused on national security, taxes, and health care. He offered no specific dollar figures about either proposal. Mr. Bush is expected to share more details when he speaks today at Owens Community College, in Toledo, Ohio, and in his budget proposal for the 2005 fiscal year, which will be released in early February.

For now, the maximum award under the Pell Grant program, which provides money for low-income students to attend college, stands at $4,050.

"I propose increasing support for America's fine community colleges," Mr. Bush told a joint session of Congress. "I do this so they can train workers for industries that are creating the most new jobs."

News reports have indicated that Mr. Bush might propose spending between $120-million and $145-million for new vocational programs at colleges (The Chronicle, January 20). However, his budget proposal for 2004, released a year ago, included cutting spending to $1.591-billion for vocational and adult education, a reduction of 16 percent, or $307-million, from 2003.

The Bush administration is already on record as supporting reforms in how the nation carries out vocational training in secondary schools and community colleges. Administration reports have concluded that federal funds given for such projects have not been effective in preparing students for employment.

Administration officials have proposed replacing the existing system of federal grants, which are distributed among the states according to a formula, with one that gives money to states to distribute on a competitive basis. Those grants would go to community and technical colleges that form partnerships with local high schools and businesses, and would require recipients to show success in achieving measurable student outcomes, such as degree attainment, job placement, retention, and earnings.

However, one job-training advocate said he was waiting to see if Mr. Bush's proposal includes additional new money and suggested that the president may be moving to simply reallocate money from existing programs.

"Robbing one cash-strapped program to create another will not help the millions of American workers who still do not have the 21st-century skills necessary to regain their footing in today's economy," Andy Van Kleunen, executive director of the Workforce Alliance, a group of local leaders who support job training, said in a prepared statement.