Merkley, Warnock Lead Bipartisan Effort Urging Education Department to Release Federal Grants Supporting Low-Income Students Nationwide

Washington, D.C. - Oregon's U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Georgia's U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock spearheaded a bipartisan group of 34 Senators in demanding Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought immediately release critical grant funding for TRIO programs, a long-standing set of federal programs that support low-income, first-generation high school and college students.

Joining Merkley and Warnock in signing the bipartisan letter were Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Angus King (I-ME), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Fetterman (D-PA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Patty Murray (D-WA).

"We write to urge you to immediately release TRIO grant awards for the following programs: Upward Bound, Veterans Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Educational Opportunity Centers," the bipartisan group of Senators wrote. "All of the TRIO programs support postsecondary access, retention, and completion for low-income, first-generation students from all backgrounds. TRIO programs are located on campuses across our country, in every state, and in rural, suburban, and urban communities. The individualized counselling, advising, and other supportive services that TRIO programs provide to students in both high school and college are critical to the success of low-income, first-generation higher education students."

The Senators continued, "These programs help approximately 870,000 students prepare for, enter, and graduate from college each year. Congress annually appropriates funding for TRIO on a bipartisan basis, and the FY25 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, which President Trump signed into law, appropriated $1.191 billion for TRIO programs."

Over 2,000 TRIO grant award notifications (GANS) for Upward Bound, Veterans Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Educational Opportunity Centers-affecting almost 650,000 students-have not been released by the U.S. Department of Education, despite the fact that most of these programs had a September 1 start date. On August 26, instead of sending TRIO Programs their GANS to ensure that programs could start on September 1, TRIO programs received a "No Cost Extension" through September 30, 2025. However, for programs that start their funding year on September 1, this leaves many TRIO programs without funding to do their work during the month of September. These TRIO Programs were previously advised by the Department of Education to "spend down" their money by August 31, which is the end of their funding year.

"By delaying notification of these grant awards and funding amounts, programs have already been forced to make difficult decisions, including laying off staff or scaling back services. This has a direct impact on the timeliness and quality of TRIO services, and it will result in many students losing access to the help they need to succeed," the Senators stressed.

A companion letter was led in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congresswoman Gwen Moore (WI-04) and signed by 53 House members.

During a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing earlier this year, Merkley slammed Education Secretary McMahon for gutting critical TRIO programs that support low-income, first-generation students and highlighted the effectiveness of these programs.

Full text of the Senators' letter can be found by clicking here and follows below:

Dear Secretary McMahon and Director Vought:

We write to urge you to immediately release TRIO grant awards for the following programs: Upward Bound, Veterans Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Educational Opportunity Centers. All of the TRIO programs support postsecondary access, retention, and completion for low-income, first-generation students from all backgrounds. TRIO programs are located on campuses across our country, in every state, and in rural, suburban, and urban communities. The individualized counselling, advising, and other supportive services that TRIO programs provide to students in both high school and college are critical to the success of low-income, first-generation higher education students. These programs help approximately 870,000 students prepare for, enter, and graduate from college each year. Congress annually appropriates funding for TRIO on a bipartisan basis, and the FY25 Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, which President Trump signed into law, appropriated $1.191 billion for TRIO programs.

The data proves that TRIO works. Since its inception in 1964, TRIO has produced over 6 million college graduates. This, in turn, leads to higher rates of college enrollment, completion, employment, and compensation for TRIO graduates, a boon to local economies as program participants are transformed into taxpayers who help their communities thrive. Students in Upward Bound, for example, are more than twice as likely to earn a bachelor's degree by age 24 than other students from some of the United States' poorest households. Similarly, Veterans Upward Bound participants are 42% more likely than their peers to earn a bachelor's degree within six years. In addition, data from 2022 indicates that 67.5% of Talent Search participants enrolled in a postsecondary education program immediately after high school graduation, and that 73% of eligible participants in the Education Opportunity Centers applied for college admission. We must do what we can to support our low-income, first-generation, veteran, and disabled students, which means supporting federal TRIO programs and the students who benefit from them.

Yet on August 26, instead of sending TRIO Programs their Grant Award Notifications (GANs), Upward Bound, Veterans Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Educational Opportunity Center programs received a letter indicating that "September start dates will have their current budget period end dates extended through September 30, 2025." The letter further explained: "This will allow your project to remain open and continue operations with available program funds through this date while the Department of Education finalizes the issuance of this year's NCC awards."

A "No Cost Extension" is not helpful to programs that start their funding year on September 1 because many programs do not have funding to do their work during the month of September. These TRIO Programs were previously advised by the Department to "spend down" their money by August 31, which is the end of their funding year. In addition, because of the grant cancellations in other programs, many institutions will not provide other funding to their TRIO programs in the absence of those award notices for 2025-2026 out of fear that their TRIO programs will ultimately see their federal grants cancelled.

We are concerned that TRIO programs nationwide will experience an unnecessary, increased burden and that students' futures will be less successful if they do not receive their appropriated funds immediately. The delayed delivery of notifications for the June 1 Upward Bound, for example, has already increased strain on program administrators and, more importantly, students. By delaying notification of these grant awards and funding amounts, programs have already been forced to make difficult decisions, including laying off staff or scaling back services. This has a direct impact on the timeliness and quality of TRIO services, and it will result in many students losing access to the help they need to succeed.

We are deeply concerned that a further delay in award notifications will result in irreversible damage to our students, families, and communities, as many rely on the vital programs and services provided by TRIO programs. Therefore, we respectfully urge you to send all TRIO grant award notifications immediately.

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