The Trump administration wants to eliminate a series of programs helping disadvantaged students complete degrees beyond high school, a move critics warned could lead to a shortage of skilled workers in Colorado and across the U.S.

Within the next decade, 72% of jobs are expected to require a college degree or professional credential.

Dan Sullivan, executive site director of College Track Denver, a program helping equip students for college and future careers, said cutting federal TRIO programs would disproportionately affect students who are the first in their families to attend college.

"These are students that have drive, talent, persistence, commitment. Taking this away is going to take away an incredible resource for our country, our workforce," Sullivan contended.

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First-generation students clear hurdles many of their classmates never see, working out applications and financial aid without a family playbook, often while holding down jobs and responsibilities at home.

The administration’s 2027 budget cuts more than $1 billion in programs serving nearly 800,000 first-generation and low-income students, including 17,000 in Colorado. Officials said the cuts will help return control of education to states and restore fiscal discipline to federal education spending.

Alexis Coria-Navarrete became a College Track scholar as a high school freshman and is now a sophomore at Colorado School of Mines. He said the program helped him apply for schools and find scholarships to cover tuition. He added the program’s mentors, reminding him the timeline for completing a degree does not have to be set in stone, have helped him stay on course.

"It's so intimidating, especially to first-generation students, because they're expected to be on time with everybody else. But the thing about college is that you have to take it at your own pace. It doesn't have to be four years. It could be five, six, whatever," Coria-Navarrete observed.

Sullivan said College Track's 10-year commitment to students starts in high school by helping them become more academically competitive to get into college, for example, by enrolling in Advanced Placement classes and extracurricular programs. And as students enter college, the support pivots to helping them take first steps toward a career.

"Finding and applying for internships or externships where they can get some of that both on-the-job experience but also start to build their own network," Sullivan outlined. "Because they're not inheriting a network from friends and family nearly as much when they're first generation."