Public higher education is not immune to the impact of a fiscal crisis — but the source of the current crisis is tied more directly to federal spending cuts.
From the earliest days of the second Trump administration, colleges and universities have been thrust into chaos, with funding frozen or cut when deemed to support programs at odds with the president’s agenda. Federal funding connected to everything from research to student support has come under fire, especially when a federal agency characterizes a program as an initiative promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
What is becoming clear is that the longstanding, federally funded TRIO grant program, which provides support for low-income and first-generation students, as well as students with disabilities, will be scaled back. Nutrition education programs funded by SNAP, including one operated by UMass Amherst staff, are losing federal funding. Federal support that bolstered colleges helping Hispanic students also is being cut.
According to the Healey administration, Massachusetts is losing approximately $3.7 billion in federal funding that has been used for education, health care, transportation, public safety, housing and other initiatives.
MTA members have been urging legislators to pass Gov. Maura Healey’s proposed DRIVE Act, which sets aside $400 million in state money to cover federal cuts to programs at colleges and universities in Massachusetts. Of that amount, half would come from Fair Share Amendment revenue to support public higher education programs.
Healey has said the money will backfill cuts to research, but MTA higher ed members are pushing for the bill to cover more than research and include other vital programs facing cuts.
At UMass Boston, the 500 students participating in Student Support Services programs funded by TRIO will not see any disruptions caused by funding cuts, at least through August 2026. But other TRIO-supported programs, such as Talent Search and Upward Bound that recruit high school students, have lost their federal funding.
Professional Staff Union member Franklin Ortiz, one of the advisers in the support services program, is troubled that TRIO is being written off as an unnecessary relic of the 1960s, especially as it attracts a wide variety of students to UMB who might not otherwise access higher education.
"Our program targets low-income students, first-generation students and students with learning disabilities. We help guide them through every step of the college process. We do everything from helping with course selection, working with them on letters for internships and making sure FAFSA forms are properly filled out," Ortiz said.
He understands firsthand how important such support can be.
"If there were no TRIO, there’d be no Franklin," he said, explaining that as an undergraduate at UMB, he nearly dropped out in his first year. But thanks to support services, he navigated a rough patch and graduated in 2018. He then pursued a master’s degree and returned as a counselor in the program so he could help others.
He estimated that keeping that one program currently funded by TRIO running would cost about $1 million annually. All three TRIO-funded programs at UMB cost about $3.5 million.
Though Springfield Technical Community College expected one more year of funding under a federal grant designed to provide student supports, the Trump administration clawed back $1.8 million of the $7.3 million the college was awarded in 2021 as a Hispanic Serving Institution.
The administration instead diverted all HSI funding to colleges and universities designated as tribal colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, of which there are none in Massachusetts. The HSI cuts hit STCC, as well as Holyoke, Bunker Hill, Northern Essex, Middlesex and North Shore community colleges. Salem State University also was impacted.
Renae Gorman, president of the Massachusetts Community College Council chapter at STCC, called the cuts "a devasting blow to our college community, especially at a time when enrollment is growing and students need more – not fewer – support services."
The HSI grant funds supported a STEM center, academic advising and other student support services. The campus administration needs to do a better job engaging faculty, staff and all stakeholders whenever the college faces such a significant challenge, Gorman said.
"Our union members have repeatedly raised concerns about transparency, staffing and declining morale, and this funding loss only amplifies those issues," she said. "We know that without sustainable, long-term solutions, these cuts will directly affect student retention and success."
The Trump administration also stripped away all funding for SNAP-Ed, a nutrition education component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. UMass Amherst’s Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment helped administer these programs through regional offices staffed by members of the Professional Staff Union and University Staff Association. Massachusetts can use unspent SNAP-Ed funds to continue programs into next summer. But the long-term fate of the program is uncertain, despite its record of promoting healthy lifestyle and diet choices.
MTA members also have been seeking support for the DRIVE Act at the local level, asking municipal bodies such as city councils and select boards to call on state lawmakers to pass Healey’s spending proposal and expand the scope of what those funds can help protect. The city councils in Salem, Haverhill and Lowell are among the communities that already have passed such resolutions.
As MTA Today went to press, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies was scheduled to hold an Oct. 30 public hearing on the DRIVE Act.
To learn more about the ongoing fight to protect higher ed, please visit https://l.ead.me/mtaprotectingeducation
