TRIO Program Advocates Seek Support in Congress - Higher Education: With across-the-board federal spending cuts looming as a real possibility as of March 1, TRIO program advocates made a timely plea Tuesday for congressional support of the federal government’s oldest group of college outreach, readiness and retention programs for low-income and aspiring first-generation college students.
TRIO program beneficiaries, including U.S. Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and other advocates such as U.S. Representative Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), spoke on behalf of TRIO programs during a Capitol Hill briefing in Rayburn House Office Building. Moore and Simpson are co-chairs of the Congressional TRIO Caucus.
“As everyone knows, we’re facing the possibility of sequestration cuts, scheduled to kick in on March 1… TRIO itself would be cut about another $43 million; the Department of Education overall would be cut about $2.6 billion,” said Joel Packer, moderator of the TRIO briefing and the executive director of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF).
