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September 11, 2008

Bill Clinton Investigates 9/11 Scholarship Fund Complaints

Former President Bill Clinton is working with a college scholarship fund for relatives of those who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, in response to criticism that it has not given out enough aid, report the Associated Press.

The Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, which has raised more than $128-million, has given $27.3-million to nearly 1,000 students through this past June and signed up thousands more children to receive college aid once they are old enough.

In recent years, however, some families have said that the fund’s administrator, Scholarship America, in Minneapolis, is doling out grants that are too meager. They have also complained about bureaucratic hurdles and unexplained changes in the awards from year to year.

“There are a lot of real problems here,” Mr. Clinton said Wednesday in a speech. He called for more “transparency and accountability” in the program. “From my point of view, this is your money,” he said to the families. He was scheduled to meet that evening with representatives of Scholarship for America.

Scholarship for America spokeswoman Janine Krantz Fugate said the fund has performed well and was never intended to cover all college expenses, only those not covered through families’ savings and traditional student loans.

In related news, Mr. Clinton has been named to succeed his White House predecessor, George H.W. Bush, as chairman of the nonprofit National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia, according to the Associated Press.

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