ABOUT TRIO

History

TRIO is a set of federally-funded college opportunity programs that motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in their pursuit of a college degree. 790,000 low-income, first-generation students and students with disabilities — from sixth grade through college graduation — are served by over 2,800 programs nationally. TRIO programs provide academic tutoring, personal counseling, mentoring, financial guidance, and other supports necessary for educational access and retention. TRIO programs provide direct support services for students, and relevant training for directors and staff.

Where Did TRIO Originate?

The TRIO programs were the first national college access and retention programs to address the serious social and cultural barriers to education in America. (Previously only college financing had been on policymakers’ radar.) TRIO began as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. The Educational Opportunity Act of 1964 established an experimental program known as Upward Bound. Then, in 1965, the Higher Education Act created Talent Search. Finally, another program, Special Services for Disadvantaged Students (later known as Student Support Services), was launched in 1968. Together, this “trio” of federally-funded programs encouraged access to higher education for low-income students. By 1998, the TRIO programs had become a vital pipeline to opportunity, serving traditional students, displaced workers, and veterans. The original three programs had grown to nine, adding Educational Opportunity Centers and Veterans Upward Bound in 1972, Training Program for Federal TRIO programs in 1976, the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program in 1986, Upward Bound Math/Science in 1990, and the TRIO Dissemination Partnership in 1998.

TRIO WORKS!

Collectively, TRIO serves nearly 870,000 students and adult learners through nearly 3,500 individual programs in each U.S. State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Pacific Islands annually. TRIO programs are staples in communities of every kind – and have a particular impact in rural areas where fewer resources are available to serve students in need. Since 1964, TRIO has produced over six million college graduates and count among its alumni astronauts, college presidents, business leaders, and elected officials.

The data on TRIO’s effectiveness is unambiguous:

• Upward Bound students are more than twice as likely to earn a bachelor’s degree by age 24 than students in the lowest income quartile.
• Student Support Services participants are 47% more likely to complete a two-year degree or transfer, and 18% more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than similar nonparticipants.
• Talent Search students are 33% more likely to enroll in college than those from the bottom income quartile.
• Veterans Upward Bound participants are 42% more likely than their peers to earn a bachelor’s degree within six years.
• EOC programs report that 60.6% of “college-ready” participants enrolled in higher education, and 71% applied.
• McNair Scholars are 78% more likely to enroll in graduate school than similarly situated low-income college graduates.