Trump’s Budget Continues Growing Trend to Target College Access and Affordability

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, President Trump released a budget proposal that builds on his administration’s pattern of cuts to higher education. Among the changes, the proposal calls for eliminating basic need provisions for students, financial aid grants, and programming tied to under-resourced college student admissions and completion. This budget recommendation compounds existing threats to higher education given recent Executive Orders and proposals in the House Republican reconciliation bill.  

The following statement can be attributed to Sameer Gadkaree, President of The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS): 

“If enacted, this budget proposal would diminish and eliminate critical student support programs—resulting in more people in debt, fewer college graduates, and countless college aspirations deferred or abandoned. This proposal is yet another signal that the Administration is not committed to ensuring students from all backgrounds can attend and succeed in college. 

“Eliminating the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) would cut aid to students with significant financial barriers to college attendance—increasing the debt they must take on or forcing them to drop out. 

“Additionally, ending the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) program, which includes the Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program and the Postsecondary Student Success Program, would undermine critical supports that help students complete college. 

“The budget would also eliminate the TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) programs, depriving students from families with low incomes, first-generation college students, and students with disabilities of critical guidance on how to get to college and to graduation.  

“Simply put, college must be available for everyone—not just the wealthy few. The proposed budget would put college further out of reach for millions of students, adding to the cuts proposed in budget reconciliation and the Department of Education’s decimated capacity to serve students and borrowers. We urge Congress to reject these cuts.”