Key Points:
- Almost all 60 employees of a federal college-preparation program for low-income students were permanently laid off.
- The layoffs target TRIO programs long defended by Republican senators.
- Critics warn the move threatens oversight of taxpayer-funded education initiatives.
College-Prep Program Faces Deep Cuts Amid Shutdown
The Trump administration has permanently dismissed nearly all 60 staff members overseeing a key college-preparation program for disadvantaged students, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The layoffs are part of a broader wave of shutdown-related cuts across the federal government, which officials say could jeopardize oversight of taxpayer-funded education programs.
The decision affects the Department of Education’s TRIO programs, a network of initiatives that help roughly 900,000 students nationwide—from middle school through college—prepare for higher education.
Despite strong bipartisan support, the administration moved forward with staff eliminations without public notice, revealing the cuts only through a legal filing listing more than 4,200 government-wide layoffs.
“The whole crux of the support staff is to ensure taxpayer money is spent appropriately, and we’re not there anymore to do it,” said one of the individuals familiar with the layoffs.
The move aligns with the administration’s stated goal of downsizing the Education Department. Trump’s 2026 budget proposal calls for eliminating $1.2 billion in funding for TRIO and related initiatives such as Upward Bound and Talent Search, which identify and support first-generation and low-income students.
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Republican Lawmakers Push Back on Unexpected Cuts
The layoffs have surprised and frustrated several Republican lawmakers who previously defended the TRIO programs. In June, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia publicly opposed efforts to eliminate the initiative, citing its success in expanding educational opportunities.
“I strongly disagree with the president’s proposal,” Collins said during a Senate hearing with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, noting that TRIO had transformed the lives of countless first-generation students. Capito had earlier introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at strengthening the programs—legislation that would have relied on the very staff now being dismissed.
Other Republican senators, including Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, joined over 30 Democrats in a September letter demanding the release of delayed TRIO funds.
The Education Department and White House declined to comment on the layoffs. Labor unions representing department employees have questioned the legality of the move, arguing that past shutdowns only led to temporary furloughs rather than permanent job losses.
As the federal shutdown enters its third week, uncertainty looms over whether Congress will act to restore the programs or allow one of the nation’s most established college-access efforts to fade amid political and fiscal battles.