The Trump administration has abruptly shuttered a 40-year-old college access program at UC Berkeley — one that has helped thousands of first-generation, low-income students from the East Bay to attend college — over equity and inclusion staff training.
Trump officials canceled the $836,000 annual grant for Cal’s Educational Talent Search at a time when many of the program’s students are applying for college. The program — which has been federally funded since 1997 — served around 1,500 students annually across East Bay middle and high schools by connecting them with college advisors and higher education. It was in the last year of a five-year grant cycle.
Program director Keyanna Hatcher was on her honeymoon when she received the email from the Department of Education alerting her that the university’s grant would be discontinued, effective almost immediately. The letter from the Education Department said the UC Berkeley program conflicts with the Trump administration’s priorities, citing a mention of management equity and inclusion training.
“I was in complete shock,” Hatcher said. “I never would’ve thought in a million years that we would get a non-continuation notification because we’ve worked very hard to ensure that our talent search program is compliant. … I’m still shocked. I think about it every day.”
The cut comes amid the Trump administration’s rejection of higher education programs designed to make it easier for students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds to access college opportunities. In September, the Department of Education announced it was ending $350 million in funding for several minority-serving grant programs and redirecting funds to charter schools, alleging the programs were “racially discriminatory” because qualifying schools must maintain a percentage of minority students in their total student enrollment. The administration also has made major changes to federal financial aid and student debt relief, most recently moving to exclude employees of organizations that provide support for undocumented immigrants or gender-affirming care for minors.
UC Berkeley’s talent program is one of eight programs under the Federal TRIO initiative, which is designed to serve and connect low-income students, first-generation college students and students with disabilities to college advisors and programs to prepare them for trade schools and universities.
The program works with thousands of students each year at 10 Oakland and West Contra Costa schools and provides everything from course planning assistance and test preparation to free college tours across the U.S.
For more than four decades, UC Berkeley’s program staff spent the fall months hosting college application workshops and advising students on their financial aid applications. The program’s college advisors now have been laid off.
Hatcher said the mention of equity and inclusion training was buried in a 60-page grant application from nearly five years ago. She said the department’s decision came down to “four words” that weren’t a reference to the actual work the program staff was doing with students, but an “administrative” requirement that staff had to include in the application at the time.
Since May, the Trump administration has slashed hundreds of TRIO programs at colleges across the nation, leaving more than 43,000 students who relied on the programs’ resources on their own. Schools that escaped the grant cuts saw delays to funding after Secretary of Education Linda McMahon gutted the office that administers TRIO grants amid the government shutdown, firing all but a few workers.
President Donald Trump had proposed axing the TRIO program entirely in his budget proposal earlier this year, contending the program was a “relic of the past” and “access to college is not the obstacle it was” for low-income students.
But UC Berkeley’s program staff disagreed, saying the reason TRIO has received bipartisan support in the past is because of the large number of low-income first-generation students all over the country who need its assistance.
“Our students are worthy and talent is everywhere, but opportunity still isn’t,” said Yvette Flores, the assistant vice chancellor for educational partnerships at UC Berkeley. “And it feels like it’s sending a message that our students aren’t worthy of these opportunities.”
Camila Castillo Perdomo, a senior at Pinole High School, said she first became aware of the outreach program as a middle schooler, but thought she was too young to consider college. But after she saw her older sister struggling with college applications, she signed up in hopes of making it easier on herself.
As a first-generation college student, Castillo Perdomo said she and her sister couldn’t go to their parents for college application advice, help picking a major or assistance with the financial aid process. She said she relied a lot on TRIO for that support and opportunities like traveling out of state for the first time for a college visit and gaining public speaking experience. She said the program also provided students with food and school supplies.
But without ETS, Castillo Perdomo is back to navigating the college application process on her own. She said she completed her financial aid application, but has no idea how to read her summary of aid and is still concerned about scholarship opportunities, finishing her personal essay questions and ultimately picking a school.
“I feel really saddened by this, because I relied so much on the program and this is such a crucial moment,” Castillo Perdomo said.
Damiah White, a sophomore at De Anza High School, said she was heartbroken when she learned about the defunding. White said the program opened her eyes to the opportunities college offered. She said the program introduced her to dual enrollment opportunities, and she now plans on graduating high school a year early before attending college.
For White, the biggest loss of the program’s cancellation is the people she’s met, including her college advisor, who have supported her and encouraged her and have become a second family.
“I love TRIO. I love the people I connected with. I love the things that they do and the things that they stood for,” White said. “That’s the first time I have had true community at any school that I’ve ever been to. … TRIO has shaped who I am today. I feel like I have lost a really big part of my high school experience and a really big part of my life.”