TRIO Advocates Fearful After Several Grants Discontinued

Montgomery County Community College has run an academic support program for local low-income high school students who would be first-generation college graduates for the last 18 years. Nearly 300 students have participated in the federally funded Upward Bound program since it started, including in its summer enrichment program and other services designed to expose students to college.

But on May 29, the U.S. Department of Education abruptly cut off funds for the program, just two days before it was slated to start a new grant cycle. The roughly $650,000 the college expected to receive over the next two years—part of a five-year grant awarded in 2022—was suddenly out of reach.

Chae E. Sweet, vice president of academic and student affairs and provost at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania, wrote to Inside Higher Ed that the college “did not receive any prior indication or warning.”

“Montgomery County Community College is greatly disappointed to receive this news regarding this valuable, life-transforming program,” which “serves as a vital part of our mission to expand access to all students and support student success,” Sweet said.

The program was one of three projects discontinued that day that were funded by Upward Bound, one of the government college prep and support programs known as TRIO. The Education Department also ended Upward Bound programs at Pima Community College’s northwest and downtown campuses, a loss of more than $1 million in federal funding, 13 News in Tucson, Ariz., reported.

Pima Community College officials declined to comment on the discontinued programs.

Cancellation letters from department officials, obtained by Inside Higher Ed, said the Upward Bound projects “reflect the prior Administration’s priorities and policy preferences.”

The programs “violate the letter or purpose of Federal civil rights law; conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education; undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help; or constitute an inappropriate use of federal funds,” wrote Murray Bessette, senior adviser for the department’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.

The move stunned staff at the affected colleges and heightened concerns among TRIO advocates, who worry it’s a bad sign for the fate of TRIO programs over all. The Trump administration already proposed axing TRIO funding in the preliminary budget released last month.

“There is no evidence that these programs failed to meet their programmatic benchmarks or otherwise failed to comply with the terms of their grant,” Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, said of the discontinued Upward Bound programs in an email to Inside Higher Ed. “From the wording of the cancellation notice, it appears that these grants were cancelled because they offended the Administration’s guidelines relating to DEI. Even with that said, it is unclear precisely what language in the underlying grants triggered the cancellations.”

A Scramble for Institutions

The timing of the grant award notifications, and the notices that grants had been discontinued, gave programs little time to plan, Jones noted.

“The overall lack of certainty creates chaos for our community,” she said. “You can’t successfully run your programs and be ready to serve your students with just two days’ notice in terms of whether or not you’re going to be funded.”

David Baime, senior vice president for government relations for the American Association of Community Colleges, said the grant losses caused a “palpable sense of shock” among college leaders.

“It was so abrupt, so unexpected, so consequential for the campuses,” he said. “They’re still trying to figure out a next step to try to continue to provide these supports for student success.”

He emphasized that community college Upward Bound programs tend to work with some of the lowest-income K–12 school districts to provide underserved students with academic experiences in and outside the classroom, such as tutoring, help with college applications and educational field trips.

“A wide variety of services would be curtailed along with these grants,” Baime said.

In addition to students, staff have taken a hit.

Sweet told Inside Higher Ed that the canceled grant at Montgomery County Community College supported three employees, who will lose their jobs at the end of the month, though the college is “in the process of gathering information to determine the next steps for the program and program staff.”

Pima Community College plans to appeal the Education Department’s decision, 13 News reported.

Greg Taylor, chair of the Pima Community College governing board, told the outlet that he didn’t believe the federal government was “very clear” about why the programs were cut.

“This program is incredibly valuable to our students and their families,” Taylor told 13 News. “We’re going to make sure it sustains forward, and we hope we can do that in partnership with the federal government, but we’re going to be looking at ways to do it without their support, if that’s necessary.”

The National Picture

The three Upward Bound projects have been discontinued just as federal lawmakers are debating TRIO programs’ long-term future.

At a Senate budget hearing last week, senators from both parties peppered Education Secretary Linda McMahon with questions about Trump’s plans to eliminate the programs for good. McMahon has argued that TRIO programs lack accountability, a claim advocates and program directors deny.

Republican U.S. senator Susan Collins of Maine, co-chair of the Congressional TRIO Caucus, told McMahon she “strongly” opposes the idea.

“Could you explain why the administration has decided that TRIO programs are not worth the investment that they make in people’s lives and the robust bipartisan support that they enjoy due to their success?” she asked McMahon.

Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said any accountability issues should be addressed, “but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

“This is making a difference for students who otherwise would not be able to graduate from high school, to get into college and to have a better future,” she said.

Baime fears that community colleges and their students would especially suffer if the programs were to go away.

“TRIO is a phenomenally important program on our campuses,” he said. “There are hundreds of grants.” Community college leaders are “extremely worried about it.”

Advocates are concerned the cancellations don’t bode well for TRIO.

“Taken with the Administration’s proposal to eliminate TRIO in FY26, we must view this as part of an overall attack on TRIO,” Jones said. “We have no reason to believe that there won’t be additional grant cancellations this summer and, because of that, every TRIO program is at risk.”