Several community colleges late last week received notices from the U.S. Education Department (ED) canceling their TRIO Upward Bound continuation grants. While the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is still working with its membership to assess the full scope of the cancellations, this is an extremely worrying development for community colleges that participate in federal TRIO programs.
The notices informed colleges that ED had determined not to continue TRIO Upward Bound awards at the end of the current grant budget period. As justification for the award termination, the notices state that the grants “reflect the prior administration’s priorities and policy preferences” and “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.”
Is it not yet clear what this action will mean for other TRIO awards. An ED spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed that more than 100 TRIO grants had been maintained and that canceled grants were deemed as “DEI plans or programs are not furthering merit, fairness, and excellence in education.” The spokesperson added that institutions will “have the opportunity to ask the department for reconsideration of their applications.”
A trend of grant cancellations
Since President Donald Trump’s January 20 executive order (EO) aimed at “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” programs across federal agencies have been abruptly canceled or halted. In some cases, programs have been taken offline altogether. In other cases, grant priorities have been altered to remove “DEI language” and competitions have been reopened with an opportunity for previously awarded recipients to reapply.
The Trump administration clearly does not view federal TRIO programs favorably. The president’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 26) budget request for the Education Department eliminates funding for federal TRIO programs and GEAR UP. In the budget summary, the administration claims that “TRIO and GEAR UP are a relic of the past” and that “college access is not the obstacle it was for students of limited means.” The document continues to say that “a renewed focus on academics and scholastic accomplishment by IHEs, rather than engaging in woke ideology with Federal taxpayer subsidies, would be a welcome change.”
TRIO has traditionally enjoyed broad bipartisan support, and it remains unlikely that Congress will zero out TRIO funding. Both House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) and Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) are members of the Congressional TRIO Caucus and strong supporters of the program. However, the administration’s opposition to TRIO coupled with the president’s strong influence with Congressional Republicans, as well as pressure on appropriators to limit discretionary spending, could spell a difficult FY 2026 funding cycle for TRIO. More urgently, it is not yet clear how Congress will respond to the recent grant cancellations.
AACC is monitoring funding for and administration of TRIO programs. If your college has seen its TRIO grant canceled or reduced, please inform AACC.
