A recent General Accounting Office report on the progress of the welfare reform law passed two years ago found a sharp decline nationwide in the welfare rolls. The number of people on welfare has fallen 37 percent to 8.9 million in March 1998 from 14.1 million in January '93. The report also found significant increases in the numbers of welfare recipients who obtained jobs.

Getting off welfare is one thing. Getting out of poverty requires training and education.

Research shows that 85 percent of women on welfare who go to college and graduate get off and stay off welfare. The more years of education they have, the better the outlook is for their future. By the year 2000, the vast majority of new ... Showed first 120 words of 614 Size (words) ...

... Continuing with another 115 out of 614 Size (words) ...today are any different from the ones they have already had. The difference is there no longer will be any welfare to return to.

The women in the Women's College Assistance Project want a college degree because they believe it will help them break the welfare cycle and get out of poverty. One of the women in the program just graduated from UDC with a two-year degree in medical radiography -- reading X-rays. She says:

"I went to college to be a role model for my kids. . . . With my degree, I'll make $18 to $19 an hour, which will be quite a bit better than my welfare check of $463 a month. I ...Essay still continues 100 more words...