When the leaders of the 26-year-old Upward Bound program at SUNY Adirondack received word earlier this fall that the Trump administration had canceled their grant, they were shocked to see the Education Department’s reason for the termination.
In the grant application for the college-access program for high school students, they had said they wanted to ensure the program included an equal number of male and female participants, in an effort to address declining male participation in the program. But in the grant termination letter—delivered mid-September, after the program’s annual Sept. 1 start date—Department of Education officials said that that line reflected the Biden administration’s priorities and conflicted with the interests of the current administration.
“We are in an underresourced area, and males were probably more focused on [finding] immediate employment … so we were trying to think about how to make sure we were doing the best we can to design a program that meets all of our service area’s needs,” said Kate O’Sick, the community college’s dean for student affairs. “We weren’t trying to exclude. There was no quota.”
According to the Council for Opportunity in Education, the organization that advocates for TRIO programs, about 100 grants were canceled or rejected in September after the department delayed funding for thousands of TRIO grants that were slated to begin on Sept. 1. Another 23 programs lost funding earlier in the year. The cancellations represent a small portion of TRIO programs—3 percent—but they affect over 43,600 students who will now be without a slew of resources, from tutoring to assistance with financial aid. Colleges that house these programs have also had to lay off staff members.
COE president Kimberly Jones told Inside Higher Ed via email that the canceled programs had all referenced diversity, equity and inclusion–related goals or efforts in their grant applications or noted that the program was to be housed in its institution’s DEI office. In some cases, programs were affected even though the DEI office that had housed them at the time of the application had since been shuttered, Jones wrote.
Although TRIO, a group of several student-support programs designed to help disadvantaged students access higher education, has long received bipartisan support, President Donald Trump’s 2026 budget proposal would have eliminated the program entirely. In a hearing regarding the budget in June, Education Secretary Linda McMahon claimed that the department “has no ability to go in and look at the accountability of TRIO programs”—though research has shown TRIO is effective in helping students earn degrees. Most recently, amid the government shutdown, McMahon gutted the office that administers TRIO grants, firing all but a handful of workers.
Prior to this administration, TRIO “wasn’t political. It was apolitical. It just helped kids get to college and through college,” O’Sick said. She noted that prominent Republicans including Rep. Elise Stefanik—who represents SUNY Adirondack’s district—were strong supporters of TRIO; Stefanik serves on the Congressional TRIO Caucus.
The Trump administration’s cuts have impacted college-access programs before; in April, sweeping cuts to AmeriCorps forced numerous college-access groups that rely on AmeriCorps members to serve as college advisers and counselors to lay off those staff members.
Resources Slashed
The September grant terminations came at the beginning of the college application season, cutting off many high school seniors from resources designed to help them navigate the application and financial aid processes just as the 2025–26 admissions cycle was getting underway.
Brian Post, who directed the SUNY Plattsburgh Upward Bound program, which assists students in the college-application process, said the cancellation of the program’s grant in September cut off 65 graduating seniors and their families from resources they’d been promised. The program at SUNY Plattsburgh, like SUNY Adirondack’s, was canceled for mentioning gender ratios in its application.
“We’re not having our FAFSA workshop where we were going to have all of our families actually complete it in a computer lab here. All that stuff we do hands-on, and it’s not happening,” said Post. “Schools can’t do this stuff. School counselors these days don’t provide college counseling. They just don’t, because they don’t have time.”
Students will also lose access to tutoring services, career exploration and college preparation resources, standardized test preparation, visits to colleges in the region, and more. The flagship initiative of SUNY Plattsburgh’s Upward Bound program, an annual six-week summer intensive that gives students a taste of college courses and campus life, will not happen this year.
A Veterans Upward Bound program at Suffolk University in Massachusetts was also canceled; it was designed to help military-affiliated students prepare to enter college and was the only one of its kind in the state. In an article in the student newspaper, one Coast Guard veteran said the tutoring services the program provides, as well as the sense of community among participants, served as a vital bridge for veterans who hadn’t been in an educational setting for years, if not decades.
“One of my biggest concerns with this program being cut is you have veterans who are coming back to school after 15-plus years and VUB provides them with the resources and tutoring and all that to be confident,” said the Suffolk senior, Liam Boyle. “A lot of things that deter veterans from coming back is the unpreparedness of re-entering school.”
Massachusetts governor Maura Healey and other state leaders condemned the Trump administration’s decision to cancel the grant and wrote in a statement that they would look for short-term solutions to continue promoting college access for veterans.
SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Adirondack each appealed the decision to cut off their funding, but were not successful; Suffolk also appealed, though Inside Higher Ed could not confirm the result. All three institutions also offer other TRIO programs that did receive their funding as usual.
“The grant cancellations resulted in an immediate loss of services this September to thousands of students—not just high school seniors in need of assistance applying to college and for financial aid, but also college students during what is arguably the most critical time of the year as they are selecting classes, in some cases transferring to new institutions, selecting majors or making postgraduation early-career plans,” COE president Jones said. “Adult learners—including military veterans—have been impacted as well. TRIO programs help these students re-enter the higher education pipeline … a path many of them seek in order to improve their families’ economic futures.”
It’s not just students themselves who are impacted by TRIO, O’Sick of SUNY Adirondack said. She’s personally heard stories of students’ family members who were inspired to restart their education following their sibling’s or child’s success with TRIO. In Plattsburgh, a slew of community members are alumni of the college’s over 60-year-old Upward Bound program—including the town’s mayor.
It’s unlikely more cuts will come this year, as TRIO programs that weren’t terminated have now received their funds. But moving forward, Jones said, the layoffs of federal TRIO staff could “increase the likelihood of major delays and weakened oversight of TRIO programs. Grantees receive less direct support from ED staff while still being required to comply with federal rules.”
