John Groutt is a resident of Salisbury, Maryland.
President Donald Trump’s newly released 2026 budget proposes the complete elimination of the Federal TRIO Programs, which, over the past 65 years, have helped millions of low-income, first-generation college students — including veterans, adult learners and students with disabilities — succeed in higher education. These initiatives have produced more than 6 million college graduates, among them astronauts, college presidents, business and military leaders, health professionals and elected officials.
On Maryland’s Lower Shore, four TRIO Programs serve students at all three of our local colleges. Wor-Wic Community College has Veterans Upward Bound, helping 125 veterans each year, and Student Support Services, assisting 144 students. Student Support Services at Salisbury University works with 114 individuals from low-income families or with disabilities, who need a bit of extra help to graduate. At the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Upward Bound serves 114 high school students from Somerset and Wicomico counties, preparing them for a successful college experience, with classes on Saturdays and during the summer, and after-school tutoring. Every year, these four TRIO Programs serve well over 500 local residents. Nationally, they help nearly 870,000 students and adult learners across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Islands.
The Trump administration’s budget proposal claims that “access to college is not the obstacle it was for students of limited means.” However, data from the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrates that students from the poorest families earn college degrees at rates far below students from the highest-income families. As recently as 2023, those from the highest-income quartile earned college degrees at a rate more than four times that of those from the lowest (62% vs. 15%).
TRIO Programs work with the lowest-income kids and adults to level the playing field, by providing financial counseling, guidance, mentoring, academic help and more. They serve veterans and disabled adults who would like to begin college but don’t know how to navigate the system; disconnected and homeless youth; high school students struggling to learn; and those who may need just a little extra support to succeed in college.
Dr. Arnold Mitchem, a longtime national advocate for TRIO, explained, “I’ve spent more than five decades defending these programs. Eliminating TRIO is not about efficiency — it’s about abandonment. We are abandoning students who could be our next teachers, engineers, public servants and leaders.” These are programs helping folks lift themselves up by going to college.
I worked in UMES Upward Bound for nearly 30 years and can vouch for the results of this modest investment in our nation’s future. Today, I meet former students working at hospitals, at council meetings (where one now serves as an elected official), in schools as teachers, in businesses that repair my appliances or which they own, and serving as officers in the military and on police forces. They have left poverty, pay taxes and contribute to the community. If we really want to keep America great, the TRIO Programs are a very sound investment.
Please let our congressional representatives and the president know that poverty isn’t an anachronism for our neighbors still living in it and that it is primarily because of TRIO and similar programs that he can claim that “access to college is not the obstacle it was for students of limited means.” Without them, the obstacles are overwhelming for most.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
