What These Programs Actually Do
Upward Bound, McNair, TRIO, and DEI initiatives are not “extras.”
They are structural supports designed to counteract structural barriers.
They provide:
- academic tutoring
- research opportunities
- mentorship
- graduate school preparation
- financial guidance
- community belonging
- cultural competency
- disability and identity support
- first‑gen navigation tools
These programs increase retention, graduation, and upward mobility — especially for students who were never meant to survive the system without help.
Which is exactly why they’re under attack.
Why Power Targets These Programs
Student success programs threaten the status quo because they:
- increase social mobility
- empower marginalized students
- teach students how systems work
- reduce dropout rates
- create informed, confident graduates
- build community solidarity
- expose institutional failures
- challenge inequity
Power prefers students who struggle alone — not students who organize, succeed, and demand better.
The Defunding of Upward Bound
Upward Bound serves:
- low-income students
- first-generation students
- rural students
- students of color
It provides tutoring, advising, college prep, and stability.
But it is routinely:
- underfunded
- cut during budget cycles
- dismissed as “nonessential”
- forced to compete for grants
- limited by political hostility toward anti-poverty programs
The students who need the most support get the least.
The Attack on McNair Scholars
McNair is one of the only programs that:
- prepares first-gen and minority students for PhDs
- provides paid research opportunities
- offers mentorship from faculty
- teaches graduate school navigation
- builds academic identity and confidence
But McNair is constantly:
- threatened by budget cuts
- forced to justify its existence
- targeted by anti-DEI legislation
- limited by grant instability
The pipeline to academia is being narrowed — intentionally.
The DEI Backlash
DEI programs provide:
- cultural competency
- anti-discrimination training
- identity-based support
- safe spaces
- staff who understand marginalized experiences
- conflict resolution
- bias reporting systems
But DEI has become a political target.
The backlash includes:
- bans on DEI offices
- elimination of DEI staff
- removal of identity centers
- restrictions on curriculum
- gag orders on discussing race, gender, or sexuality
- punishment for faculty who support DEI
The goal is simple:
Make campuses less safe, less inclusive, and less supportive — especially for marginalized students.
Who Gets Hurt
The war on student success services disproportionately harms:
- poor students
- first-generation students
- rural students
- disabled students
- LGBTQ+ students
- students of color
- student parents
- survivors of trauma
- international students
The students who rely on these programs lose the only institutional support they had.
Why Institutions Allow It
Because eliminating these programs:
- saves money
- reduces accountability
- avoids political conflict
- preserves hierarchical power
- keeps marginalized students isolated
- prevents organizing
- maintains the status quo
Institutions benefit when students struggle quietly.
The Structural Consequences
Defunding Upward Bound, McNair, and DEI leads to:
- lower retention
- lower graduation rates
- higher dropout rates
- increased food insecurity
- increased homelessness
- increased mental health crises
- decreased representation in graduate programs
- decreased representation in academia
- weakened social mobility
These programs aren’t symbolic.
They are lifelines.
The Result
The war on student success services:
- removes support
- increases inequality
- punishes marginalized students
- reinforces systemic barriers
- protects institutional power
- undermines academic achievement
- erases pathways to graduate school
- destabilizes entire communities
Upward Bound, McNair, and DEI don’t threaten education.
They threaten inequity — which is why inequity fights back.
Cutting these programs isn’t about efficiency.
It’s about control.
We Believe You
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