More than 400 higher education institutions are worried about some proposed revisions to the federal TRIO Programs in the Promoting Real Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform (PROSPER) Act.
Maureen Hoyler, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education registered the concerns on April 10 in a letter to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Education and the Workforce on behalf of 413 institutions.
The COE staff “started with a list of concerns, and some were added by the schools,” Holyer told Diverse in an interview.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Hoyler said the nonprofit advocacy organization she leads are among those who believe that, if enacted, the proposed changes would have harmful consequences such as diminishing institutions’ ability to provide the academic, financial and cultural support needed for low-income and first-generation students.
Upward Bound, Talent Search and other TRIO programs are outreach and student service programs designed by the federal Department of Education to identify and provide resources for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly low-income and first-generation students.
One of the issues raised by COE is that the legislation would require the Secretary of Education to reserve portions of the TRIO appropriation for people who have never before received a TRIO grant.
Another revision in the bill requires that the secretary reserve portions of the TRIO appropriation to fund “a newly created competitive grant program known as IMPACT Grants,” according to Hoyler.
