Senators Collins, Shaheen Lead Bipartisan Group Urging Secretary of Education to Ensure Timely Disbursement of TRIO Grant Awards
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins, co-chair of the Congressional TRIO Caucus, and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) led 13 of their Senate colleagues in sending a letter to U.S. Department of Education (ED) Secretary Miguel Cardona, urging the ED to ensure timely execution of the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grant competition. By law, TRIO awards must be determined eight months prior to the expiration of a grant. The ED has repeatedly failed to meet this deadline, disrupting services that TRIO grantees provide.
The SSS grant program is one of eight programs under the TRIO umbrella, and provides opportunities for academic development, assists students with basic college requirements, and motivates students toward the successful completion of their postsecondary education. SSS awards fund projects providing students with academic tutoring and advising, counseling, and financial aid information.
“As you know, SSS is the only national program providing college retention and completion supports for low-income, first-generation students and students with disabilities,” the Senators wrote. “Unfortunately, the Department has an historic track record of failing to award grants to TRIO funding recipients in sufficient time to prevent disruptions to student services.”
“Specifically, we urge the Department to enact a timeline that notifies grantees if competition results at least three months before the grant start date,” the Senators continued. “This would prevent the previous unnecessary crises created by the Department and instead allow successful grantees sufficient time to recruit students and staff, secure campus resources and take others steps needed to ensure student success.”
According to the College Board, the SSS program gives a return on investment of at least $13 for every $1 spent by the federal government. TRIO SSS participants were nearly 50% more likely to complete a 2-year degree or transfer, and 18% more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree, when compared to eligible non-participants in the program. In the State of Maine, the SSS program supports 2,765 students at 14 different institutions.
Last year, Senator Collins introduced the bipartisan Educational Opportunity and Success Act that would reauthorize and strengthen the federal TRIO programs while instituting commonsense reforms to make it easier for educational institutions to reach students who would benefit from these programs. These reforms came in part as a result of the University of Maine at Presque Isle having had its TRIO application denied due to the use of one-and-a-half spacing rather than double spacing in text appearing in graphics on two of its application’s 65 pages.
The letter was also signed by Senators Angus King (I-ME), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and James Risch (R-ID).
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