TRIO: Breaking down the programs that build up under-represented communities
Getting the support you need as a student shouldn’t be difficult. Students should be able to attend a university that provides an affordable path toward higher education. They should be able to reach out to mentors for support and advice when in a difficult situation. Students shouldn’t have to miss educational opportunities due to a lack of resources.
However, not every student will have access to the same resources and support systems necessary to give them a proper path forward. Which is why programs like TRIO are extremely important for leveling the playing field; encouraging, empowering and elevating students to higher education.
TRIO is a set of federally funded programs aimed at helping low-income individuals, first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities achieve a post-baccalaureate degree. Students under these qualifiers can apply to join TRIO, and receive a wide array of benefits and resources to support their college experience. Students can find more information on how to apply and who qualifies for TRIO at TRIO | Educational Outreach and Student Services.
That being said, anyone can read that basic information and get an idea of what TRIO is, but to truly understand its impact, it is important to take a look at the people who make its parts.
Senior Coordinator for the TRIO Teacher Prep program and TRIO Student Support Services on ASU’s Polytechnic campus, Kate Bowdren, emphasizes the need for access in education and explains how TRIO addresses this.
“The resources provided to TRIO members are essential in leveling the playing field for students from disadvantaged backgrounds,” Bowdren said. “These resources, which include academic tutoring, college preparation guidance, personal development workshops and career counseling help students overcome barriers to higher education.”
And this only scratches the surface of what TRIO is able to provide for members. TRIO has access to a multitude of school resources, but more so than that, they have the TRIO staff. A dedicated group of coordinators, counselors and alumni, the TRIO team provides an emotional safety net for students to lean on as well. This tailored experience allows them to develop more than just an academic plan for the students, but a relationship that they can lean on while in college.
Senior TRIO Career Coordinator, Holli Trentowski-King, spoke to the importance of creating this environment
“Anything from free printing, applying to a college, graduate school and the guidance and support of a dedicated staff member,” Trentowski-King said. “TRIO’s aim is to assist the students academically but it often provides a safe space that students may not have access to. The programs are focused on creating opportunities for students to consider, connect and envision higher education for themselves and their families.”
According to the United States Department of Education, “The history of TRIO is progressive. It began with Upward Bound, which emerged out of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in response to the administration's War on Poverty. In 1965, Talent Search, the second outreach program, was created as part of the Higher Education Act. In 1968, Student Support Services, which was originally known as Special Services for Disadvantaged Students, was authorized by the Higher Education Amendments and became the third in a series of educational opportunity programs. By the late 1960's, the term ’TRIO’ was coined to describe these federal programs.”
Currently at ASU, TRIO exists in three major programs:
Upward Bound: TRIO Upward Bound provides fundamental support to participants in their preparation for college entrance. Upward Bound works within multiple Arizona school districts to ensure higher levels of college application and admission, ensuring more students get access to a higher education.
Talent Search: TRIO Talent Search helps identify individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the potential to succeed in higher education, and provides them with the resources to apply and attend a college.
Student Support Services: TRIO Student Support Services is one of the more active branches at ASU, and it works to increase the college retention and graduation rates of its participants through a plethora of resources and support systems. TRIO Student Support Services is a wonderful support program for anyone attending ASU who qualifies as low-income, first-generation or disabled.
These programs each exist to specialize the help that TRIO can provide. Through these programs, TRIO is able to ensure that a wide scope of under-privileged students are being supported.
Sharon Smith, Vice President of Education Outreach Partnerships at ASU, gave important insight into ASU’s continued support for these programs.
“ASU’s TRIO programs work in tandem to provide our students with a wide network of support. We continue to emphasize the importance of our charter, being measured by who we include not who we exclude, and making sure that those with a desire to pursue higher education have that opportunity at the highest level.”
Alongside providing a high quality academic experience, TRIO works to give specific support to the areas each student needs most. Gianelly Esquer, a coordinator for West Valley TRIO Student Success Services and TRIO Student Success Services STEM, explained how they approach this process.
“The purpose of TRIO is to provide students with these essential resources, eliminating the struggle of locating them on their own,” Esquer said. “Our program has strong partnerships with EOSS departments and colleges, which has been instrumental in setting students up for success. As a liaison between these departments, TRIO ensures that students have access to the support they need.”
“It's important to note that our students are determined to succeed and achieve their goals, and it is crucial for TRIO to stay updated with all available resources to best support them.”
Esquer continued by noting how wide the scope of TRIO has become, in its ability to reach more students and create more opportunities for its members.
“We have a physical presence on all four campuses, which sets us apart from most federal grants or scholarship programs,” Esquer explained.
“During my time at TRIO, I have seen students who come regularly, excited to share their goals with our staff. Many of our TRIO student workers are also participants, allowing us to witness their professional growth first hand. And although we are located on all four campuses, TRIO collaborates regularly to create events for all our students to enjoy, such as the TRIO Summit, the TRIO Career Conference, and various cultural events.”
Most federal funds are simply just that: funds. While they can provide basic resources, they don’t go do much to make sure those resources are facilitated properly, or that those resources are making significant positive impacts on the recipients. TRIO changes that.
“TRIO programs stand out from other federal grants or scholarships by offering comprehensive support services beyond just financial aid,” Bowdren explained. “Unlike other programs, TRIO engages with students long-term, often from middle school through post-baccalaureate studies, and emphasizes both academic and personal development.”
A student who was a part of TRIO Talent Search during high-school can then transition into Student Support Services, and continue benefiting from the resources TRIO provides throughout their college experience as well.
With this long-term investment the students also receive much more than just a temporary boost to their grades or test scores. TRIO has a goal: Encourage, Empower and Elevate. They do this by focusing on the students well-being and making sure every student knows they are supported and able to pursue a higher education.
The environment created by this hands-on approach represents more of a family or fraternity, than a federal program.
“TRIO is different from other federal grants and scholarships because of the community it creates,” Trentowski-King said. “Students who pass through the program come back to become coordinators and directors and continue the cycle of support. Alumni also come back to support programming and offer opportunities to mentor and give back the support they received during their time.”
TRIO Downtown Phoenix Program Director and alumni Patty Santillanes-Soto further spoke to this environment, and why she decided to come back and support TRIO.
“It's a sense of community that keeps our students engaged in our programs, wanting to better themselves, wanting to get that additional support and just knowing that they have another team that's there rooting for them when they might not have that additional support system,” Santillanes-Soto said.
Having been a student in TRIO herself, Santillanes-Soto understands the value of programs like TRIO and how they benefit members. It helped Santillanes-Soto establish important opportunities to help build her future, and she wants to help students currently enrolled in TRIO achieve the same.
“Because a lot of opportunities like that don't come around for our students that we serve, who are either first-gen or low-income or have registered disabilities,” continued Santillanes-Soto.
“They're not legacy scholars, where they have parents or grandparents who can tell them, ‘Hey, I worked at Charles Schwab, and this is what that experience was like.’ So they're starting fresh, and being able to provide those opportunities to them, to start getting an idea of what life will look like or could look like for them after college, has been very rewarding for me as a staff, as well as an alumni.”
Alongside students who have graduated from ASU, there are plenty of students within TRIO right now, currently taking advantage of the many benefits available.
ASU Senior and Criminology and Community Justice major with Watts College, Giselle Salinas, spoke to her process of becoming involved with TRIO.
“I got involved with TRIO during a workshop, networking, little mixer that Watts held,” explained Salinas. “I met with this girl, who said she was an ASU alum and part of TRIO. She just mentioned how much it helped her and all the resources they had available.”
“We have a lot of tutoring,” continued Salinas. “We have computer labs. They also have a lot of networking and events. The last event I attended was an etiquette dinner, which was very helpful. And we also had workshops. I attended a salary negotiation workshop which isn’t something people talk about or learn easily.”
Fellow ASU senior and Clinical Exercise Science major, Jose Miranda, also spoke to the benefits of TRIO.
“I have been involved with TRIO Upward Bound since high school,” Miranda said. “It’s basically like a college readiness program, and they put me on TRIO. They had this program where we stayed in the dorms over the summer. We got to have that college experience and kind of prepared for that.”
“It’s just full of those people that really want to see you succeed,” Miranda explained. “And it's really nice to have all the TRIO students here, and then we all get to meet at school as well and then someone will like, have similar classes. You form those connections and it ends up helping each other, and it's an environment that allows each other to grow and get to our goals.”
Support systems are some of the most valuable things we can have. Especially in a time like college, where you will be facing a lot of new changes, challenges and choices that you might not know how to respond to. Finding a support system that will back you through thick and thin can help you overcome even the hardest of these obstacles.
Even more impactful than that, is a support system that you can continue to lean on as you grow and move throughout your life. With TRIO helping students from high-school all the way to a post-baccalaureate degree.
TRIO is an amazing program for underrepresented students who need that extra bit of support. With extensive resources, dedicated and specialized support, a large team of staff and a supportive group of students, TRIO can become your home away from home