At a time when President Obama and other leaders talk boldly about raising college-completion rates, Kimberly Jones has a quick response: Don’t forget the TRIO federal programs.

 “We feel like we are fighting for our lives,” said Jones, congressional affairs director for the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE), a Washington, D.C., organization that works on behalf of TRIO access and support programs such as Talent Search and Upward Bound.

 Jones said TRIO leaders are disappointed that, in actions from a $787 billion stimulus package to a multibillion-dollar college aid package, there was little or no discussion of TRIO. The president’s latest budget would level fund TRIO programs at $901 million next year.

 “What we’re seeing is a retreat from the federal government’s historic role in preserving educational opportunities,” she told Diverse editors at a recent in-person interview. Jones said she is disappointed with how Obama’s budget would treat TRIO, which she argues has a 40-year record of success.

 “To see level funding in the budget — it’s disheartening,” she adds.

 First created during the War on Poverty in the 1960s, TRIO programs focus on early college awareness, advising and support services to help low-income, first-generation students enroll and stay in college. TRIO encompasses programs such as Talent Search, Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Centers and the McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. This week in Washington, the organization convened its National College Opportunity Program Leadership Summit, Annual Policy Seminar and Annual Seminar on Relations with the U.S. Department of Education, drawing more than 700 college opportunity professionals to the meetings.

 At the same time the president would level fund TRIO, he proposed a $12 billion American Graduation Initiative, a new college-completion grant program and more funds for Pell Grants.  By comparison, TRIO has “been so stagnantly funded the last few years,” Jones said.