NASHUA – With the U.S. Department of Education under threat, Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) is backing the federal TRIO programs in her effort to safeguard funding for low-income students aspiring to further themselves beyond high school.
The first TRIO program, Upward Bound, was created when the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 was signed into law by then-President Lyndon Johnson. Since then, TRIO has expanded to include seven programs at more than 1,000 colleges nationwide. In New England, there are currently 16,000 students who benefit from these programs.
During this year’s New England TRIO Day, Goodlander emphasized that students’ dreams of graduating from a four-year college are made possible through these programs.
However, since Jan. 27, $1.1 billion have been cut from the DOE budget under President Donald Trump.
“The impacts are devastating,” Goodlander said during the Feb. 21 event. “This is not just a line item in the budget, we’re talking about possibilities that could be removed.”
Goodlander said the next few weeks will be crucial regarding the future of the DOE, which was established in 1979 under then-President Jimmy Carter.
“It will take a whole lot of advocacy,” she said of the effort to save the DOE. “What I’m going to do is make the case every chance I get.”
TRIO Day organizer Randall Schroeder said that in addition to living in low-income households, many TRIO students are the first in their families to graduate from a four-year school.
“Some of these students have never traveled out of their home state or stayed overnight in a hotel,” he said. “These high school students have been provided extra support to thrive in high school classes, write excellent application essays, seek many sources of financial aid and make the best college choice for them.”
Schroeder said TRIO is currently funded by the DOE at $1.2 billion. However, the future remains highly unstable.
“If the Department of Education gets dismantled, that’s a huge question mark,” he said. “It bothers us a lot.”
Adam Keese, director of TRIO Programs at Keene State College, said Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for education secretary, would be in office for one purpose.
“Her goal is to dismantle the Department of Education,” said Keese.
Because TRIO existed before the DOE, he said the programs could “potentially continue” if the DOE were to collapse. However, TRIO would look very different.
“It’s never happened before,” he said.
Keese also spoke about student loans that have already been awarded.
“Theoretically those funds would continue,” he said. “We’ve been trying to reassure students.”
