Congresswoman Torres Condemns Trump Administration for Slashing Funding for Addressing Student Hunger, Homelessness & Basic Needs
Washington D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Norma Torres, a member of the House Appropriations Committee that oversees government funding, condemned the Trump Administration’s decision to cruelly eliminate the FY25 Basic Needs Grants, a program she secured funding for to help students afford food, housing, transportation, and other essentials needed to stay in school.
“Cutting Basic Needs Grants is a direct hit to students who are already stretched to the breaking point,” said Congresswoman Torres. “These grants helped keep students housed, fed, and enrolled. Killing them makes college even more unaffordable and it pulls support from the very students who need it most.”
The Department of Education cancelled the Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program for Fiscal Year 2025 last week after reallocating funds from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, against Congressional intent, leaving colleges without vital resources to address rising student hunger and housing insecurity.
Since Rep. Torres first secured a pilot program for Basic Needs Grants in Fiscal Year 2021, the Basic Needs Grants have reached colleges and universities in 22 states and Puerto Rico, including both rural and urban areas in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin and the program has received applications from many more states.
“At a time when tuition, rent, and the cost of living keep climbing, the Trump Administration chose to walk away from struggling students,” Torres added. “I’m going to keep fighting to restore these funds and to advance my BASIC Act so students aren’t forced to choose between their education and basic survival.”
Nearly one in four (23%) undergraduate students across the country experience food insecurity, a rate twice that of all other U.S. households, meaning more than 4.3 million undergraduate and graduate students who have low or very low food security. Furthermore, 3 in 5 students do not have enough to eat or a safe place to live.
Students who confront other challenges and limited access to opportunities, such as Pell Grant recipients, parenting students, first-generation students, veterans, former foster youth, students with disabilities, and students at community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) typically experience the highest levels of basic needs insecurity.
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