Senator Collins Presses Secretary of Education on Elimination of TRIO, Pell Grant Expansion
TRIO Q&A: Click HERE to watch and HERE to download.
Pell Grant Q&A: Click HERE to watch and HERE to download.
Washington, D.C. – At a hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2026 budget request for the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Senator Susan Collins, Chair of the Appropriations Committee, questioned Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on the proposed elimination of TRIO programs and expanding Pell Grants to be used for short-term training programs.
This morning, Senator Collins announced that the Department of Education released the TRIO Upward Bound grants—which fund programs preparing high school students from disadvantaged backgrounds for college—to current grant recipients in Maine. This action from the Department follows a letter sent last week by Senators Collins and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) to Secretary McMahon urging the immediate release of this funding after reports that multiple Upward Bound programs had yet to receive the funding they’d been promised for the coming program year. The funding will support more than 180 Maine students.
Q&A on TRIO Elimination:
Senator Collins:
From my experience in Maine, I have seen the lives of countless first-generation and low-income students, not only in Maine, but across the country, who often face barriers to accessing a college education, changed by the TRIO program. I'm actually wearing my Maine TRIO pin today, just to emphasize my support for that program. In fact, three of my own staff members went through the TRIO program and tell me that they would not have pursued higher education but for the support and confidence that the TRIO program gave them.
The President's budget, unfortunately in my view, proposes to eliminate the TRIO programs, and as co-chair of the Congressional TRIO Caucus, I strongly disagree with the President's proposal. Could you explain why the Administration has decided that TRIO programs are not worth the investment that they make in people's lives and the robust bipartisan support that they enjoy due to their success?
Secretary McMahon:
Thank you very much. And I know that these programs are very near and dear to your heart. We have had at least two pretty lengthy conversations about them. And TRIO will be funded through the end of this year, so all those funds will go out. But it is not proposed to continue in the 2026 budget. What we found is the programs, while I absolutely agree that there are some effectiveness of the programs, in many circumstances, these programs were negotiated at very tough terms, in that, the Department of Education has no ability to go in and look at the accountability of TRIO programs. It specifically eliminates our ability to do that. And I just think that we aren't able to see the effectiveness across the board that we would normally look to see with our federal spending. So, while there are, I think, many instances, and I believe also that Chairman Capito even worked in TRIO for a while in her earlier years, I do think there is effectiveness of many programs that I'm just not sure the total expenditure warrants.
I do know, however, that Congress does control the purse strings, and I would sincerely hope that if you decide, with appropriations, to continue these programs, that we could work with you to renegotiate those terms that we feel kind of hamstrung the Department of Education in not being able to fully understand their accountability. That's a real drawback in these programs, and I think all of us would agree we want to make sure that anything that we are funding we can attach accountabilities to it.
Senator Collins:
Well, as with the Job Corps program in the Department of Labor, I think the answer is to reform and strengthen those programs, fix what's wrong, and increase accountability—not abolish them. And I look forward to working with you in that regard.
Q&A on Pell Grant Expansion:
Senator Collins:
I want to move to another issue, and that is a bill that Senator [Tim] Kaine and I have introduced called the JOBS Act. What it does is allow students to access federal Pell Grants to pay for shorter-term job training programs. A lot of times, you can get a license in a trade to become an electrician or welder, for example, or a certified nursing assistant, without going through a two-year community college program. That may be the best option for some people; it isn't for others.
Would you support the concept of allowing Pell Grants to be used for short-term training programs that result in a license or a certification for a job?
Secretary McMahon:
Well, you're really speaking my language, Senator, and thank you very much for that. I wholeheartedly support these workforce Pell Grant options, because I've seen in many instances, I mean, we have 8 million open jobs in our country. Our workforce is definitely not being fulfilled by the proper workers. So, let's get these young people who don't need a four-year college education into the workforce sooner. I'm in agreement that even when they're in high school, we should start these programs in high school, leading into apprenticeship programs. But the workforce Pell Grant programs, the short-term you're talking about, I also think they can be stacked in credentials, so that you can really propel yourself and to be a stronger economic contributor. So, I'm all for those.
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