ARCATA -- Humboldt State University officials say proposed cuts to outreach programs would undermine not only the education of many students but the philosophy of higher education in California.

The Student Academic Services Outreach Program and Educational Opportunity Program are targeted for cuts in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed state budget. The former helps attract first-generation and low-income teens to college, and the latter helps them stay in school once they get there.

Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond, California State University Chancellor Charles Reed and other administrators have told Schwarzenegger the programs are vital, and they want to cut other aspects of the university to preserve them. But Student Academic Services Outreach Program Director R.W. Hicks said so far this seems to be meeting with some resistance from the governor's staff.

Hicks said cuts will widen the gap between rich and poor Californians.

"Access to higher education is the great social equalizer," said Vice President for Student Affairs Steven Butler. "It's the foundation of our economy and our whole way of life. And California is not at this point meeting the plan it has established for higher education."

Hicks' staff works with middle schools and high schools to help students and their parents prepare for college: informing eighth-graders on what classes in high school will best prepare them for college; informing parents of resources like financial aid; and recruiting high school students from poorer schools throughout the state.

For children of college-educated parents, preparing for college is often automatic, but other children may not assume it's possible or worthwhile for them, Hicks said. He said teens in his program -- even if they don't go to HSU -- do start thinking more seriously about college. He worries about what will happen to them without this outreach.

"If we're not doing it, I don't see anyone else picking up the ball," he said.

The Educational Opportunity Program and Student Support Services admit an average of 200 new students each fall and provide support to 625 new and continuing students each year.

Of these, 93 percent are the first in their families to attend college. More than half have an annual family income of less than $24,000. All have demonstrated "the potential for academic success in college" to be admitted to the program, states a program brochure.

They receive academic advising, financial aid advising, graduate school application information, standardized test preparation, tutoring and other services.

Director Randi Darnall Burke has legions of success stories: a young woman who entered college with a so-so grade point average but quickly succeeded with the program's help and is now an assistant district attorney in Oregon; an alumnus who returned to his East Los Angeles home with a degree from HSU, dedicating himself to gang intervention; others who have gone on to be social workers or inner-city teachers in the hopes of making a difference in others' lives.

Hicks said the two programs tap into the basic American philosophy of opportunity. They're not handouts or welfare, but an investment that helps make a difference, Burke said.

"It's not as simple as a line-item in the budget labeled 'outreach,'" she said.

Butler -- who noted that 60 percent of HSU students receive some form of financial aid -- said administrators are trying to prepare as best they can as they await final word on the state budget.