MANCHESTER, N.H. —
New Hampshire educators are raising concerns about uncertainty with federal funding.

A program that helps first-generation college students make the jump to higher education could run out of money in less than two weeks.

TRIO Upward Bound helps students who are the first in their families to go to college make the leap to higher ed successfully, but program director Joshua Gagnon said that this summer, those young adults might be out of luck.

“As of June 1, the programming will end because funding is being withheld and the grant award notifications are not being sent out to these programs, and that has a ripple effect,” Gagnon said.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan and U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander called out the Trump Administration for withholding education funds already appropriated by Congress.

“Programs that students across our state are relying on and families have been planning for are really in peril right now,” Goodlander said. “I visited TRIO programs across our state, and these are relatively small investments that have an extraordinary return for our state.”

School administrators said they have been told not to plan on any more Title II education dollars. They said that money helps larger districts reduce class sizes.

“Typically, we would have a sense of what the allocation is in the spring, earlier in the spring,” said Hampstead Superintendent Bob Thompson. “So, every week, day or month that goes by where we don’t know what the allocation is makes it more of a challenge in planning for the next school year.”

As the Trump Administration moves quickly to reduce the power of the U.S. Department of Education and enact its own policy changes, a lot of battles are moving to the courts.

“Some of the states where the attorneys general are suing the federal government to get the money that’s been appropriated have gotten that money, and I’m going to continue to encourage everyone to stand up for New Hampshire,” Hassan said.