Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
Spring 5-2026
Abstract
Histories of American higher education tend to suggest that the relationship between the federal government and higher education reached its apex in the 1950s before beginning to decline in the 1960s. How, then, do we understand the creation of federal TRIO programs in the 1960s and their continued growth through the remainder of the twentieth century? TRIO programs are federally funded projects intended to expand college access for non-traditional students. Through the lens of access, this paper argues that the federal government was limited in its ability to influence higher education during the post-war period because of the highly decentralized nature of the American university system. Eventually, Lyndon Johnson successfully incentivized implementation of Civil Rights policy in higher education through Upward Bound (UB), the original TRIO program. UB was successful because it granted institutions funds for the purpose of supporting non-traditional students without demanding uniformity. In fact, variance was a virtue when it came to the creation of Upward Bound projects. Additionally, this paper makes the case that the War on Poverty continued the work of the Civil Rights movement even though it shifted the discourse towards income rather than race. In arriving at these conclusions, I utilized a wide range of primary sources including hearings, newspaper articles, and government reports.
Recommended Citation
Kirby, Jack H., "Planting the Seeds of an “Educational Revolution”: The Origins of Upward Bound" (2026). Department of History. 2.
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/ah-grad-theses-history/2
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons 1.0 Public Domain Dedication.
Faculty Sponsor
Joe Cope