Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education cancelled Binghamton University’s Upward Bound Math-Science program, which was designed to provide local students from “historically underrepresented and financially disadvantaged” backgrounds with access to resources and guidance to pursue higher education in the STEM field.

Stephen Rebello, the senior director for TRIO Student Support Services, mentioned the program’s cancellation at an event on Saturday marking the 40th anniversary of TRIO day — first designated by Congress in 1986 to raise awareness about a series of eight programs that help disadvantaged students obtain postsecondary education.

A University spokesperson confirmed the news and told Pipe Dream in a statement that the Upward Bound Math-Science program was one of more than 100 TRIO grants nationwide that received cancellation notices.

A lawsuit spearheaded by the Council for Opportunity in Education is seeking to restore these programs. In January, a federal district court judge found that the organization demonstrated a “likelihood of success” in showing that the Department of Education’s cancellations were “arbitrary, capricious, and otherwise not in accordance with the law.”

That same judge then wiped out the Education Department’s notices of cancellation and non-continuation and ordered the department to “issue new determinations regarding continuation” through a process that complies with the judge’s ruling and acts with “all applicable laws, regulations, and procedures.”

“We are hopeful that Binghamton’s UBMS funding will be restored,” a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to Pipe Dream. “TRIO has faced funding threats at various points over the past 60 years. Each time, strong student outcome data, paired with student success stories, have garnered bipartisan support and carried the programs forward.”

Other SUNY schools were among those affected by the TRIO program cancellations. Both SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Adirondack had federal funding pulled from one Upward Bound program last year.

In October 2025, a Department of Education spokesperson said in a statement that fewer than 30 of the country’s Upward Bound programs did not receive renewed funding because they “do not align with the Administration’s priorities.”

According to the district court’s Jan. 16 memorandum opinion, the Department of Education sent similar notices to many of the colleges and universities affected by the TRIO cancellations.

“The Department has undertaken a review of grants and determined that the grant specified above provides funding for programs that reflect the prior Administration’s priorities and policy preferences and conflict with those of the current Administration, in that the programs: violate the letter or purpose of Federal civil rights law; conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education; undermine the well-being of the students these programs are intended to help; or constitute an inappropriate use of federal funds,” read the court’s summary of what the Department of Education gave as reasoning for its program cancellation.

A June 24, 2025, snapshot of the University’s Math-Science webpage indicates that the program offered a summer program to local students at the Binghamton and Johnson City High Schools. The webpage has since been deleted.

Other resources provided by the program included academic counseling, guidance in preparing for college entrance exams and application materials, mentoring opportunities and “exposure to university faculty members who do research in mathematics and the sciences.”

To qualify for the program, students must have finished the eighth grade. Two-thirds of participants must be low-income, potential first-generation college students, while the remaining one-third can be low-income or potential first-generation.

Pipe Dream reached out to both school districts and has not yet heard a response as of Sunday evening. The Department of Education did not return Pipe Dream’s comment request.

“While the recent cancellations are significant, they represent another challenge that the TRIO community is actively working to overcome,” the University spokesperson said.