TRIO Talent Search Competition Opens with $175M After Months of Delay
March 23, 2026 · 2 min read
David Almeida
The U.S. Departments of Education and Labor on March 17 opened the FY 2026 Talent Search competition, releasing $175 million in federal grants for college-access programs serving low-income and first-generation students. The announcement ends months of uncertainty after 33 bipartisan senators demanded the administration launch TRIO competitions by March 1.
What Changed — and What Took So Long
Talent Search is the first TRIO competition of the fiscal year, a milestone that normally happens on a predictable schedule. This cycle, delays cascaded from the Department of Education's ongoing restructuring, which is transferring postsecondary programs to the Department of Labor. The Talent Search competition is now jointly administered by Education and Labor — a first for the program.
A bipartisan group of senators led by Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) wrote to the administration urging competitions begin by March 1 so that award notices could be released by June 30 and programs could start on September 1 without service gaps. The March 17 launch missed that target by over two weeks.
Application Details and Key Deadlines
Individual awards range from $250,000 to $10,000,000, and applications are due May 1, 2026, through Grants.gov. Eligible applicants include colleges, school systems, nonprofits, and community-based organizations that operate outreach programs helping students pursue postsecondary education or registered apprenticeships.
The agencies said this is the first grant competition under their new postsecondary education partnership, with additional TRIO competitions — including Upward Bound and Student Support Services — expected later this spring and summer.
For the roughly 800,000 students served by TRIO programs nationally, the stakes are straightforward: delayed competitions mean delayed awards, which mean program directors making hard choices about staff and services during the gap. Organizations that depend on TRIO funding should begin preparing applications immediately.
College-access organizations tracking federal funding timelines can find updates and analysis at grantedai.com. In-depth analysis of the TRIO competition cycle is available on the Granted blog.