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The Bush administration's argument for eliminating Upward Bound seems logical. Why spend $287 million to help economically disadvantaged students succeed in high school and college when a study found little or no effect on the average participant's achievement?

The answer: because the White House cites one finding out of context. Elsewhere in the Mathematica Policy Research report, the data and analysis indicate Upward Bound is a significant help to large numbers of students. Overall achievement is skewed by, among other things, youths who leave the program after less than a year. Results rise significantly among those in the program two years or more, MPR found. They are higher still among those who finish. Students who entered the program with low expectations of attending college also had notably better achievement rates.

And as in MPR's similar 1999 report on Upward Bound, the findings suggest overall effectiveness would be improved by increasing retention and expanding participation among high-risk students. By staying the course, early program dropouts could raise their college admission rate 17 percent and earn an average of 16 more college credits.

The Council for Opportunity in Higher Education, meanwhile, says 12,100 out of 13,100 Upward Bound students who graduated high school in 2000 went to college, including 9,000 who attended four-year schools.

But those are just the dry statistics. Logic, self-interest, common sense and experience present an equally compelling case for a program that helps 62,000 students a year in high school and on campuses such as Virginia Tech and Roanoke College.

Through Upward Bound, millions of students with little family history of educational achievement and few financial resources have found the support and guidance to complete high school and attend college. In a nation that thrives on a culture of self-improvement and ambition, it makes the utmost sense to help students trying to rise above the most limiting economic and social circumstances.

In a modern, technology-intensive economy dependent on a skilled, educated population, it also makes sense to help clear obstacles for those with intellectual potential.

And when a program has other proof of success that refutes the argument for killing it, it makes no sense to allow the Bush administration to pull the plug.