Education Department Stalls on $1.2B in TRIO Competitions as Deadline Looms
March 13, 2026 · 2 min read
David Almeida
Congress preserved $1.19 billion for TRIO programs in the FY2026 spending package, rejecting the Trump administration's proposal to eliminate the programs entirely. But there's a problem: the Education Department has not yet launched two scheduled TRIO competitions, leaving hundreds of colleges and universities uncertain whether their current grants will be renewed.
TRIO serves more than 800,000 low-income and first-generation college students each year through programs like Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and Educational Talent Search. The competitions determine which institutions receive five-year grants to operate these programs on their campuses.
What's Happening — and What Isn't
As of March 10, two TRIO competitions that should have been launched remain in limbo. The Department hasn't provided a timeline for when notices will be published in the Federal Register. This isn't an isolated delay — the Native Hawaiian Education Program and Alaska Native Education Program haven't had competitions since 2023, despite Congress allocating $45 million in new funding.
The pattern echoes the broader disruptions of 2025, when the administration discontinued hundreds of competitive grants worth $2.2 billion and disrupted at least $12 billion in previously awarded federal funds.
Grant Rule Changes Add Uncertainty
Compounding the delays, the administration is moving to insert new requirements into federal grant competitions. The General Services Administration is soliciting public comments — with a deadline at the end of March — on proposals that would require all 220,000-plus federal grantees to certify compliance with new conditions. These changes to the "uniform guidance" that governs grant competitions could alter the terms under which TRIO competitions eventually launch.
A separate concern: the July 1 deadline for distributing billions in formula funding to states is approaching, and education officials worry that additional turbulence lies ahead.
What TRIO-Dependent Institutions Should Do
Institutions with expiring TRIO grants should prepare applications now, even without a published notice, so they can respond quickly when competitions open. Documenting program outcomes — retention rates, graduation rates, graduate school enrollment — will be critical.
Detailed tracking of education grant competitions and deadlines is available on Granted.