🔥 Breaking: Pima Community College TRIO Programs Terminated as Trump Declares War on Educational Justice

⚡ Educational Lifeline Cut: Trump's $1.2 Billion Attack on College Access for Low-Income Students. Why eliminating TRIO programs is really about dismantling paths to economic liberation

Jun 02, 2025

😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾

💼 The government is trying to shut down special programs called TRIO that help students whose families don't have much money go to college. 📚 These programs have been around for 60 years and help almost a million students every year, including many Latino and Native American kids.

🌟 In Tucson, Arizona, these programs are super important because most families there are Hispanic and don't have much money, and very few kids from those families usually get to finish college. 🎓 The president says these programs aren't needed anymore, but the truth is that rich kids still go to college way more than poor kids. 🏫 People who went through these programs became famous, like astronauts 👨‍🚀 and movie stars 🎬.

Now communities have to fight to save these programs so kids can still get help going to college. ✊

🗝️ Takeaways

🎯 TRIO programs at Pima Community College have been terminated as part of Trump's proposal to eliminate all $1.2 billion in federal TRIO funding nationwide
📊 TRIO serves 875,000 students nationally, with 19% Hispanic and 4% Native American students, making it crucial for Indigenous and Chicano communities
🌵 In Pima's service area, 84% of residents are Hispanic and over 42% live below 150% of poverty, with less than 10% earning college degrees within six years
💰 The elimination is part of $163 billion in cuts to non-defense programs that the administration claims fight "woke" and "radical leftist ideology"
📈 Data contradicts Trump's claims about college access: Students from highest income families earn degrees at 4x the rate of lowest income families (62% vs 15%)
🏛️ TRIO has survived previous elimination attempts through community organizing and has produced notable alumni including Hispanic astronauts and Academy Award winners
⚖️ This represents cultural warfare, not just budget cuts, targeting programs that specifically serve marginalized communities in the borderlands

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Trump's Attack on TRIO Programs: Dismantling Educational Access for Indigenous and Chicano Students

The letter was stark in its bureaucratic language, but the message was clear:

"This letter provides notice that the United States Department of Education has determined not to continue your federal awards... effective at the end of your current multi-year project period."

For the TRIO programs at Pima Community College, serving the borderlands of Southern Arizona where nearly half the families live below 150% of the poverty rate, this wasn't just another budget cut—it was a calculated assault on educational equity that ended this weekend, May 31st, 2025.

What Are TRIO Programs? Una Historia de Resistencia

The Federal TRIO Programs represent one of the most successful educational initiatives born from the 1960s War on Poverty. Created as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, TRIO began with Upward Bound serving just 2,061 low-income high school students in 17 pilot programs during the summer of 1965.

The name "TRIO" referred initially to three foundational programs: Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services.

Today, TRIO has grown to eight programs serving nearly 875,000 students nationwide, including:

Upward Bound: College preparatory program for high school students
Talent Search: Identifies and assists students with potential for education beyond high school
Student Support Services (SSS): Provides academic tutoring, advising, and mentoring for college students
Educational Opportunity Centers (EOCs): Counseling and information for adults entering postsecondary education
Veterans Upward Bound: Serves military veterans transitioning to higher education
Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program: Prepares undergraduate students for doctoral study
Upward Bound Math and Science: Specialized STEM preparation
TRIO Training Program: Professional development for TRIO staff

The program's mission has always been clear: identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, specifically targeting low-income students, first-generation college students, and students with disabilities.

TRIO's Impact on Our Communities

The statistics tell a powerful story of educational transformation. Nationally, 37% of TRIO students are Caucasian, 36% are African American, 19% are Hispanic, 4% are Native American, 4% are Asian American, and 2% are listed as "Other," including multiracial students. But these numbers don't capture the full picture of TRIO's impact on Indigenous and Chicano communities in places like Southern Arizona.

At Pima Community College, TRIO programs have been particularly vital for students in communities with deep educational disparities. The areas served by Alta Vista, Desert View, and Sunnyside high schools encompass parts of the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation. Of the area residents, 84% are Hispanic, and more than 42% of the families have incomes less than 150% of the poverty rate. Less than 10% of graduates of the area's high schools earn a college degree within six years of graduating.

For students like those served by Pima's programs, TRIO represents more than academic support—it's a lifeline to economic mobility. As PCC TRIO Graduate Yara Villalobos said:

"I felt very lost and disconnected from high school. When I came to PCC, I realized the TRIO program would help me with financial aid, access to a study lab, or just having a person as a resource. I knew I had support; that's what TRIO was for me."

The Trump Administration's War on Educational Opportunity

President Donald Trump's 2026 budget proposal calls for the complete elimination of the Federal TRIO Programs, which have helped millions of low-income, first-generation students—including veterans, adult learners, and students with disabilities—succeed in higher education for over 60 years.

The rationale provided by the administration reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of educational inequality in the United States.

The administration claimed that TRIO and GEAR UP are "a relic of the past when financial incentives were needed to motivate Institutions of Higher Education to engage with low-income students and increase access... Today, the pendulum has swung, and access to college is not the obstacle it was for students of limited means."

This assessment contradicts current data. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrate that students from the poorest families earn college degrees at rates significantly lower than those from the highest-income families.

As recently as 2023, students from the highest income quartile earned college degrees at a rate more than four times that of students from the lowest income quartile (62% vs. 15%).

The Broader Assault on Educational Equity

The elimination of TRIO is part of a sweeping $163 billion cut to non-defense programs that includes devastating reductions to educational opportunity:

Complete elimination of TRIO programs: $1.2 billion in federal grants eliminated
Federal Work-Study cuts: The Trump administration wrote that this cut would bring FWS "to the states" and that "FWS is a handout to woke universities and a subsidy from federal taxpayers"
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants eliminated: The program was allocated $910 million in fiscal 2024, all of which would be cut under Trump's budget. The budget document accuses the grants of contributing "to rising college costs" that colleges have used to pay for a "radical leftist ideology."
Office for Civil Rights slashed: The administration wants to cut the Office for Civil Rights' budget by $49 million, or 35 percent. The budget document says this cut will refocus OCR "away from DEI and Title IX transgender cases."

What This Means for Students and Communities

The impact of eliminating TRIO extends far beyond individual students—it represents an attack on the infrastructure of educational equity in underserved communities. TRIO's $1.2 billion in federal grants also funds many underresourced universities' student support services.

These institutions—community colleges, rural regional public universities, and small private colleges—have the most to lose if TRIO is eliminated; for some, the loss of TRIO would mean the elimination of student success offices and academic advising.

For Indigenous and Chicano students, this loss is particularly devastating. TRIO programs have been crucial in addressing historical educational inequities and providing culturally responsive support.

When 84% of students in the Desert View and Sunnyside catchment areas are Hispanic, and when the programs serve areas that include parts of the Tohono O'odham Nation and Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation, eliminating TRIO isn't just a budget cut—it's cultural warfare.

The History of Resistance: Nuestra Lucha Continúa

This isn't the first time TRIO has faced extinction. The TRIO community has successfully withstood multiple attempts to eliminate funding, including what was known as the "War on Opportunity" when the House Budget Committee proposed eliminating TRIO, as well as later attempts by the White House to eliminate Upward Bound, Talent Search, and GEAR UP.

The program's survival has always depended on the voices of those it serves. In response to the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act, which mandated an across-the-board cut to government funding, Congress proclaimed February 28, 1986, as "National TRIO Day" to highlight the needs and accomplishments of TRIO students and programs.

The Success Stories They Want to Silence

TRIO's alumni list reads like a who's who of American leadership, including many who have broken barriers for communities of color:

Franklin Chang-Díaz: First Hispanic astronaut (Student Support Services)
José M. Hernández: Second Hispanic astronaut (Upward Bound)
Viola Davis: Academy Award-winning actress (Upward Bound, Student Support Services)
Bernard Harris: First African-American astronaut to perform a spacewalk (Ronald E. McNair Scholar)
Oprah Winfrey: Media mogul and philanthropist

These success stories represent the transformative power of investing in educational opportunity for disadvantaged students.

Data That Demands Action

The effectiveness of TRIO programs is well-documented:

TRIO Student Support Services raises completion rates for Pell Grant recipients and ensures our federal investment results in degrees, not dropouts
The TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Program has provided academic support to Pima Community College students since 2010, striving to increase graduation, retention, academic standing and transfer rates
At Pima, TRIO programs serve areas with less than a 13% college success rate, working to transform educational outcomes in some of Tucson's most underserved communities.

What We're Fighting For

When we defend TRIO, we're defending more than a federal program—we're defending the principle that education should be a pathway to liberation, not a privilege reserved for the wealthy. For Indigenous and Chicano students who have faced centuries of educational exclusion, TRIO represents hope made manifest.

As Maureen Hoyler, COE Senior Advisor and past president, said, "TRIO is the insurance policy for the Pell Grant. It's not enough to provide financial aid—students also need academic guidance, mentoring, and personalized advising to stay on track."

How to Fight Back: ¡La Lucha Sigue!

The fight to save TRIO is happening right now, and every voice matters:

Immediate Actions:

Contact your representatives in Congress immediately. Students and TRIO alumni across the nation are petitioning their representatives to stop the cuts and support these programs for generations to come
Share your TRIO story or the story of someone you know who benefited from these programs
Attend local school board and community college board meetings to demand that they advocate for TRIO funding

Sustained Advocacy:

Join the Council for Opportunity in Education advocacy efforts
Support organizations working to protect educational equity
Vote for candidates who understand that education is a human right, not a commodity

Community Building:

Organize "Save TRIO" events in your community
Build coalitions with other groups affected by education cuts
Document and share the impact of TRIO in your area

The termination notice sent to Pima Community College isn't just about one institution—it's a warning shot in a broader war against educational justice. But we've fought this fight before, and we've won. Nuestra historia is one of resistance, resilience, and ultimately, victory.

As we face this new assault on our educational future, we must remember that TRIO was born from the struggle for civil rights and economic justice. It survived Reagan's attacks, Bush's cuts, and countless other attempts to dismantle it. It will survive Trump's assault, too—but only if we fight with the same passion and determination that created these programs in the first place.

¡La educación es un derecho, no un privilegio! Education is a right, not a privilege. And we will not let them take that right away.

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We want to hear from you: How has TRIO or similar educational programs impacted your life or your community? What actions are you taking to defend educational opportunity in this political moment?