Lawmakers Look to Strengthen TRIO Programs

NATIONWIDE -

U.S. Senators recently introduced the Educational Opportunity and Success Act, which would reauthorize and strengthen existing federal TRIO Programs. Nationwide, TRIO Programs help ensure that underserved students have equal access to a college education and the support they need to prepare for, succeed in, and graduate from higher education.

The legislation would institute reforms to make it easier for educational institutions to reach students who would benefit from these programs. It would also prevent a recurrence of a situation in 2017 where the U.S. Department of Education rejected dozens of applications simply on the basis of non-substantive formatting criteria. One of these applications was from the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI), which had used one-and-a-half spacing instead of double spacing in text appearing in graphics on two of its application’s 65 pages.

Senator Susan Collins, who co-sponsored the legislation, urged the Department of Education to reverse its decision a few months later, protecting funding for UMPI.

“Congress created the TRIO programs because it recognized that low-income, first-generation students often face significant financial and societal obstacles to accessing and achieving success in higher education,” said Senator Collins. “These programs have changed the lives of firstgeneration students in Maine and across the country, open-