Breaking Down Barriers to Higher Education: TRIO Programs

Higher education was not made for everyone. When institutions of higher learning began, they were exclusive to White rich men of elite families. This system allowed social class walls to be built even stronger and taller, keeping the “haves” and the “have-nots” distinctly separate, and the same can be said about the walls between gender and racial groups. Segregation, poverty, elitism, and gender bias were, and still are, prevalent realities in our society. This history and the history of higher education in America cannot be ignored because it continues to impact the youth of the 21^st century. Although the doors of post-secondary institutions have been opened to allow all types individuals, the past exclusive traditions and lack of accessibility has maintained the exclusive nature of higher education institutions.

The government is not blind to these issues or to the fact that education is a valued resource in society and is a key way to socio-economic mobility. In the 1960’s, the Johnson Administration focused in on this, placing high importance on higher education. As a part of President Johnson’s “War on Poverty”, he enacted the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in an attempt to expand economic opportunity and decrease the level of poverty in America (Cooley, 2018). The act states, “It is, therefore, the policy of the United States to eliminate the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty in this Nation by opening to everyone the opportunity for education and training” (Economic Opportunity Act of 1964). A key piece of this legislation authorized appropriations of federally funded grants for programs that motivated and prepared low-income youth for post-secondary education; from this emerged the beginning of Federal TRIO Programs (TRIO). Upward Bound was the first program of what would become TRIO, a network of eight federally funded grant programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). TRIO focuses on assisting low-income, first-generation college students, or students with disabilities navigate the educational pipeline through to post-secondary education. The eight programs include: Educational Opportunity Centers, Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement, Student Support Services (SSS), Talent Search, TRIO Staff Training, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math-Science, and Veterans Upward Bound.

TRIO continues to be an impactful pathway to higher education attainment by guiding youth to educational opportunities they would not have otherwise seen as a possibility because of their familial background. The program has grown from three original programs to eight programs hosted at almost 3,000 sites, expanding the number of disadvantaged students served and increasing access to higher education by making higher education more attainable.

The positive impact TRIO has made on the lives of traditionally disadvantaged students can be seen through both numerical quantitative data as well as qualitative stories from participants. The U.S. Department of education releases a number of reports detailing the outcomes from all eight programs. Each recipient of a TRIO grant is mandated to report their program outcomes to the U.S. Department of Education through an Annual Performance Report (U.S. Department of Education, 2019). In the Fast Facts Report for the Talent Search Program (2016a), one of the outcomes reported was post-secondary enrollment of program participants. In 2013-2014, 80% of college-ready Talent Search participants severed by four-year institution grantees enrolled in post-secondary education (U.S. Department of Education, 2016a, p. 14). This was also similar in the 2013-2014 cohort of participants in Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science Programs. The outcome report released in 2016 for these programs report 86% of graduating participants enrolled immediately in a post-secondary program (U.S. Department of Education, 2016b).

Although quantitative measures show positive outcomes, some can say the most powerful evidence of the impact of TRIO are the narratives from past and current participants. Many individuals who were a part of one (or more) of the eight TRIO programs express their gratitude for the program. A report released by the U.S. Department of Education featured past program participants in a section labeled “Voices from the Field”. In this, individuals share their narratives and are quoted saying, “Honestly, I don’t think I would be where I am today without the TRIO [McNair] program”; “It wasn’t until I participated in a TRIO [SSS] campus visit that I really opened myself up to the possibility of continuing my education”; “I’m a first-generation college student… [Talent Search] guided me when no one else could”; among other powerful statements that reveals TRIO’s positive impact (U.S. Department of Education, n.d., pp. 29-31). These narratives reveal the first-hand accounts of the impact this legislation makes on the lives of the students it aims to serve.   

These program outcomes and participant experiences shows that Federal TRIO Programs are effective in achieving its goal of aiding disadvantaged student to enroll in post-secondary educational opportunities. Simply put, TRIO works. This is known and will hopefully come into play as the HEA is up for reauthorization. The HEA has not been reauthorized since 2008 even though it is supposed to be reauthorized every five-years. Looking forward, House Democrats have proposed the Aim Higher Act (H.R. 6453), which proposes an increase of funding for programs such as TRIO. It will be up to the 116^th congress to determine if TRIO’s impact has the opportunity grow or remains stagnant.

For more information about TRIO, visit https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html

Sources:

American Council on Education. (2019). Higher Education Act: HEA reauthorization. Retrieved from 
         https://www.acenet.edu/Pages/Renewing-the-Higher-Education-Act.aspx

Cooley, A. (2018). War on poverty: United States History In Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved from 
         https://www.britannica.com/topic/War-on-Poverty

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88-452, 78 Stat. 508

Higher Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. 89-329, 79 Stat. 1235, codified as amended at 20 U.S. Code § 1070a-11

Groutt, J. (2003). Milestones of TRIO history, part 1. The Journal of the Council for Opportunity

McCants, J. (2003). Do you know TRIO? A TRIO history factsheet [PDF file]. Retrieved 
        from http://www.pellinstitute.org/downloads/trio_clearinghouse-The_Early_History_of_the_HEA_of_1965.pdf

National Center for Education Statistics. (2018). [Interactive Map] TRIO’s footprint in 2017-18: Project sites throughout the 
        U.S. and Outlying Territories. Retrieved from https://ope.ed.gov/programs/maped/storymaps/trio/

U.S. Department of Education. (2016a). Fast Facts Report for the Talent Search Program [PDF File]. Retrieved from 
        https://www2.ed.gov/programs/triotalent/ts-fastfacts2016.pdf

U.S. Department of Education. (2011). History of the Federal TRIO Programs. Retrieved 
        from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/triohistory.html

U.S. Department of Education. (2019). Federal TRIO Programs- Home page Retrieved 
        from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html

U.S. Department of Education. (2016b). Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science programs: Postsecondary 
        outcomes report [PDF File]. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/programs/trioupbound/ub-ubms-outcomes2016.pdf