\n<\/p>\n
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\u2019s reason for the termination. <\/p>\n
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\u2014delivered mid-September, after the program\u2019s annual Sept.\u00a01 start date\u2014Department of Education officials said that that line reflected the Biden administration\u2019s priorities and conflicted with the interests of the current administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in an underresourced area, and males were probably more focused on [finding] immediate employment\u00a0\u2026 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\u2019s needs,\u201d said Kate O\u2019Sick, the community college\u2019s dean for student affairs. \u201cWe weren\u2019t trying to exclude. There was no quota.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.\u00a01. Another 23 programs lost funding earlier in the year. The cancellations represent a small portion of TRIO programs\u20143\u00a0percent\u2014but 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.<\/p>\n
COE president Kimberly Jones told Inside Higher Ed <\/em>via email that the canceled programs had all referenced diversity, equity and inclusion\u2013related goals or efforts in their grant applications or noted that the program was to be housed in its institution\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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 \u201chas no ability to go in and look at the accountability of TRIO programs\u201d\u2014though 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. <\/p>\n Prior to this administration, TRIO \u201cwasn\u2019t political. It was apolitical. It just helped kids get to college and through college,\u201d O\u2019Sick said. She noted that prominent Republicans including Rep. Elise Stefanik\u2014who represents SUNY Adirondack\u2019s district\u2014were strong supporters of TRIO; Stefanik serves on the Congressional TRIO Caucus.<\/p>\n The Trump administration\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u201326 admissions cycle was getting underway.<\/p>\n Brian Post, who directed the SUNY Plattsburgh Upward Bound program, which assists students in the college-application process, said the cancellation of the program\u2019s grant in September cut off 65 graduating seniors and their families from resources they\u2019d been promised. The program at SUNY Plattsburgh, like SUNY Adirondack\u2019s, was canceled for mentioning gender ratios in its application. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re 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\u2019s not happening,\u201d said Post. \u201cSchools can\u2019t do this stuff. School counselors these days don\u2019t provide college counseling. They just don\u2019t, because they don\u2019t have time.\u201d <\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n 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\u2019t been in an educational setting for years, if not decades.<\/p>\n \u201cOne 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,\u201d said the Suffolk senior, Liam Boyle. \u201cA lot of things that deter veterans from coming back is the unpreparedness of re-entering school.\u201d <\/p>\n Massachusetts governor Maura Healey and other state leaders condemned the Trump administration\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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 <\/em>could not confirm the result. All three institutions also offer other TRIO programs that did receive their funding as usual.<\/p>\n \u201cThe grant cancellations resulted in an immediate loss of services this September to thousands of students\u2014not 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,\u201d COE president Jones said. \u201cAdult learners\u2014including military veterans\u2014have been impacted as well. TRIO programs help these students re-enter the higher education pipeline\u00a0\u2026 a path many of them seek in order to improve their families\u2019 economic futures.\u201d <\/p>\n It\u2019s not just students themselves who are impacted by TRIO, O\u2019Sick of SUNY Adirondack said. She\u2019s personally heard stories of students\u2019 family members who were inspired to restart their education following their sibling\u2019s or child\u2019s success with TRIO. In Plattsburgh, a slew of community members are alumni of the college\u2019s over 60-year-old Upward Bound program\u2014including the town\u2019s mayor. <\/p>\n It\u2019s unlikely more cuts will come this year, as TRIO programs that weren\u2019t terminated have now received their funds. But moving forward, Jones said, the layoffs of federal TRIO staff could \u201cincrease 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.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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\u2019s reason for the termination. 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