July 1, 2021 

Dr. Miguel Cardona, Secretary

U.S. Department of Education 

400 Maryland Ave. SW 

Washington, DC 20024 

Re: Federal TRIO Programs - Docket ID ED-2021-OPE-0077 

Dear Secretary Cardona:

We write to urge you to eliminate the regulatory requirement that participants in the Federal TRIO Programs 

be U.S. citizens or permanent residents to access TRIO’s life-changing college access and completion

services. The Federal TRIO Programs provide counseling, mentoring, tutoring, and advising services for lowincome students and those who will be the first in their family to earn a college degree, students with

disabilities, disconnected adults, and military veterans. TRIO currently serves more than 800,000 students

annually, two-thirds of whom are students of color. TRIO has produced more than six million college

graduates.

Since 1986, the Higher Education Act (HEA) statute has excluded many immigrant students from federal

grants, loans, or work assistance [20 U.S.C. 1091(a)(5)]. However, the statute does not exclude undocumented 

or other immigrant students from participating in other Title IV student programs, projects, or services,

including TRIO’s individual counseling, advising, mentoring, tutoring, college search, and other services.

Instead, restrictive regulations in place since the 1980s limit TRIO eligibility beyond what is authorized by

the HEA statute, requiring that to access TRIO services, students have citizenship, permanent residency, or

other immigration paperwork [34 CFR §643.3(a)(1); §644.3(a)(1); §645.3(a); §646.3(a); and §647.3(a)].1

Despite the law’s restrictions on federal student aid, many undocumented and other immigrant students have

been able to attend college and will make outstanding contributions to the country. They have a particular

need for information and support that TRIO programs are poised to meet. However, the Department’s overly

restrictive regulations close the doors of TRIO services to promising students who meet all other eligibility

criteria in the HEA statute – including being low-income and/or first-generation college-bound, having a

disability, or being a military veteran – but are undocumented or lack a pathway to lawful permanent

residence.

The Department should remove the TRIO citizenship and immigration status regulations as soon as possible

as part of its upcoming Title IV negotiated rulemaking process, which would meet its goal to reduce “gaps in

postsecondary outcomes such as retention, completion, loan repayment, and student loan default by race,

ethnicity, gender, and other key student characteristics.”

Among potential first-generation and low-income TRIO participants are individuals granted Deferred Action

for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) – students who came to the U.S. as young people who are American in every

sense but the paperwork. TRIO is particularly important to the nearly 100,000 undocumented students who

graduate from high school each year, and the more than 427,000 undocumented immigrants enrolled in higher

education, including more than 181,000 students in higher education who are eligible for DACA.2 Many

1 Similarly, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 restricted access to “postsecondary education ... or any other similar benefit for which payments or assistance are provided to an individual,

household, or family eligibility unit by an agency of the United States or by appropriated funds of the United States.”

8 USC 1611(c). The TRIO services are not payments or assistance and are not similar to the other benefits listed in the

law, and therefore would not be subject to the restrictions in this law. 2 Higher Ed Immigration Portal (accessed June 22, 2021).

https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/national/national-data/
undocumented students are unable to enroll in or complete college due to high costs and lack of supports to

navigate the path to and through college.

We stand ready to work with you to expand college opportunity and completion for all students.

Sincerely,

Afterschool Alliance

Alliance for Excellent Education

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers

American Association of Community Colleges

American Association of State Colleges and Universities

American Association of University Professors

American Council on Education

American Federation of Teachers

American Indian Higher Education Consortium

American Psychological Association

American School Counselor Association

American Student Association of Community Colleges

Association of American Colleges and Universities

Association of American Universities

Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities

Association of Community College Trustees

Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges

Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities

Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)

Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Association of Young Americans (AYA)

California Department of Education

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Central American Resource Center of Northern CA - CARECEN SF

Church World Service

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

Council for Opportunity in Education

Council of Administrators of Special Education

Council of Graduate Schools

EDGE Consulting Partners

Education Reform Now Advocacy

Educators for Excellence

EduColor

FWD.us

Georgetown University

HACU-Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities

Hildreth Institute

Immigrants Rising

Immigration Hub

La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE)

Lumina Foundation

Magnet Schools of America

MENTOR

Michigan United

NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

National Association of College and University Business Officers

National Association of Graduate-Professional Students
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities

National Association of Secondary School Principals

National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

National College Attainment Network

National College Transition Network at World Education, Inc.

National Council for Community and Education Partnerships

National Council of Jewish Women

National Education Association

National HEP CAMP Association

National Immigration Forum

National Immigration Law Center

Nations Association of College Stores

New America Higher Education Program

Next100

Pre-Health Dreamers

Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration

Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM)

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

San Diego State University

Teach For America

The California State University

The Education Trust

The Institute for College Access & Success

The State University of New York

TheDream.US

TMCF

TNTP

UC Santa Cruz

UCLA

UndocuBlack Network

UnidosUS

United Stateless

United We Dream

University of California System

University of California, Davis

University of California, Santa Cruz

University of Nevada, Reno

University of Southern California

Westchester Jewish Coalition for Immigration