Upward Bound Programs Facing Uncertainty, Despite Proven Success

“We have kids that would not have gone to college if it weren't for this program and obviously that's not an isolated thing because TRIO programs exist nationwide,” says Will Lane, assistant director at the University of Maine Farmington’s Upward Bound program. 

The program that Lane is referring to is Upward Bound, a federally funded program with a proven record of success in helping economically disadvantaged kids go to college. On his campus, UMF's Upward Bound serves 139 students across 14 high schools in central Maine. The program puts these Maine students on a path to postsecondary two- and four-year degrees, while providing academic advising and summer programming to stop academic regression.

Across the nation, Upward Bound programs supported 73,519 students and gave out 1,026 financial awards in 2024. However, proponents of Upward Bound and other federally funded college-access programs are worried. In May, the U.S. Department of Education abruptly discontinued several Upward Bound programs at community colleges in Maryland and Arizona.

Now, more than 10,000 Upward Bound alumni have asked their Senators and Representatives to reject cuts to Upward Bound and other federal college-access programs, according to the Council for Opportunity in Education. 

“The immediate impact is that suddenly [those students in cancelled programs] are being denied services that are going to directly help them go to college,” Lane says.

The When, Why, and How of Upward Bound 

The When:

Upward Bound was the first of the federal TRIO programs, created by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.  Talent Search, which identifies youth from disadvantaged backgrounds to provide resources for college, became the second program with the passing of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The name TRIO came to be when that act was amended in 1968, which is when the third part of the TRIO program, the Student Support Services, was created. 

Together, TRIO programs are designed to bring more adults into postsecondary education programs, give grants to higher education institutions for projects that prepare students for doctoral studies and similar research ventures, and to assist students with basic requirements.  

The Why: 

Students who participate in Upward Bound are from low-income families, with little to no college experience, including some students with disabilities.  “Every Upward Bound program operates a little differently,” Lane says. “But at the end of the day we all have the same objectives, and we have all the same net goals of trying to help kids go to college,” Lane says. 

The How:  

Upward Bound provides academic tutoring, assistance in course selection in high school and acollege, plus assistance in admission applications and financial aid applications. It may also provide exposure to cultural programs, mentoring and work-study positions. 

The Where:

Does It Work? Studies Say Yes!

Students who participated in the Upward Bound program or whose institutions had a Student Support Services program, another branch of TRIO, had higher rates of degree completion than those who did not, according to an August 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Education.

Another report from the U.S. Department of Education from the 2017-2018 school year showed that 84 percent of Upward Bound participants who graduated high school in 2018 went to a post-secondary education soon after graduation. 

Meanwhile, studies done by specific colleges and universities show similar success. For example, a 2021 study from Valdosta State University in Georgia showed that rural African American female high school students in Upward Bound had strong relationships with the program. Participants said Upward Bound helped them learn new skills through workshops and helped prepare them for the SAT and ACT. The trips the program provides were also motivation for the participants to continue pursing higher education. 

Another 2024 study from St. John’s University found that Upward Bound programs build confidence, self-esteem, and resilience in students by providing them with knowledge, resources and exposure. In this way, the programs build skills beyond academics.  

What’s Next?  

On May 29, the Department of Education cut Upward Bound funding to Montgomery County Community College in Maryland and two Pima Community College campuses in Arizona. 

“There is no evidence that these programs failed to meet their programmatic benchmarks or otherwise failed to comply with the terms of their grant,” Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, said of the discontinued Upward Bound programs in an email to Inside Higher Ed. “From the wording of the cancellation notice, it appears that these grants were cancelled because they offended the Administration’s guidelines relating to DEI. Even with that said, it is unclear precisely what language in the underlying grants triggered the cancellations.”

While UMF was not affected, Lane says he and his colleagues in Upward Bound are "hyper-aware" of the cuts to these other programs. 

At the same time, they're also aware of bipartisan support for TRIO programs, he says. “I would say the nice thing is that support for TRIO, both at the [House] and Senate level, is really bipartisan." And, when cuts are proposed, students and staff rely on both Democrats and Republicans to defend their programs and tout their success on Capitol Hill. 

But their biggest advocates are Upward Bound alumni, he adds, who speak publicly in Maine about how UMF's Upward Bound program is the reason they were able to attend college. 

Advocacy from both current and former students and parents, Lane says, is important in maintaining funding, protecting and support for TRIO programs. “We need advocacy in all levels of the federal government and we need alumni to speak up,” Lane says.