PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Maine’s U.S. senators have joined a push to continue funding a program that helps first-generation and low-income students attend college.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins is one of the leaders of the effort, which includes 56 senators, one of whom is independent Sen. Angus King. The senators want to keep funding Federal TRIO Programs in fiscal 2022.

The programs help underserved students with services to help them attain a college education. More than 7,500 students are served by TRIO in Maine.

The senators said college enrollment of students from high-poverty high schools fell by a third in fall 2020. The coronavirus pandemic “has challenged every stage of our nation’s education system, thus making the need for targeted investments in TRIO all the more urgent,” they wrote.