Congress created Upward Bound in 1964 with the goal of preparing more low-income students for college. A few months later, it created a second college-preparation program, Talent Search. The pair of programs formed the foundation of TRIO, which now includes six outreach and support programs for disadvantaged students and veterans. Upward Bound's and Talent Search's aims are similar, with both offering tutoring, counseling, test preparation, and assistance with college applications. Upward Bound is much more intensive, providing academic instruction on top of its other services. It is also much more expensive. The government spends close to $5,000 annually on each student who participates in Upward Bound, but only $385 on each Talent Search participant. For students who remain in Upward Bound for four years, costs can approach $20,000. Because the Upward Bound program is so costly, the federal government has long sought to gauge its effectiveness, to make sure the money is being well spent. In 1991 the Education Department commissioned Mathematica Policy Research to conduct a longitudinal study to determine whether students who participate in Upward Bound fare better than students in other precollege programs. This article describes how a new study of the Upward Bound program has heightened tensions between the Education Department and the program's chief lobbying group.