ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA – The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Winthrop University a federal TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) grant totaling $1.43 million to improve retention and graduation rates among low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.
This award marks the continuation of five years of TRiO SSS, now renamed as the TRiO Achievers Program, on the campus. First funded at Winthrop in 2005, the program has served more than 3,000 students, helping them stay in school, earn degrees and build meaningful careers. Winthrop’s TRiO program is one of more than 1,000 TRiO programs across the country funded through the U.S. Department of Education.
The program is designed to increase the academic performance, retention rates and graduation rates of program participants. Through individualized services including academic counseling, tutoring, financial literacy, career and internship readiness, student leadership development, TRiO-specific courses (ACAD and LEAD), and mentoring, TRiO Achievers empowers students to overcome barriers to success. These comprehensive support services make it significantly more likely that students will complete their degree at Winthrop, with the lowest possible debt.
For two decades Winthrop’s TRiO Achievers Program has provided critical access to higher education for thousands of students, said Leigh Poole, assistant provost in the Office of Student Success. “The program’s administrators are incredibly dedicated and keenly focused on the success of our TRiO students, supporting them daily as they strive to achieve their educational goals,” she said. “I am very proud of this program, and it is a true privilege to support such inspirational colleagues and students.”
Winthrop’s latest grant application received a perfect score, achieving points for meeting retention and graduation objectives, according to Rose Gray, TRiO Achievers Program director.
“The services provided by the TRiO Achievers Program are transformative and result in generational change for our participants. Students whose parents do not have a college degree have more difficulties navigating the complexity of decisions that college requires for success,” Gray said. “This grant will bolster students from low-income families who have not had the academic opportunities that their college peers have had and will help students with disabilities remove obstacles preventing them from thriving academically.”
Winthrop TRiO participants have a remarkable success rate: 99 percent of TRiO participants are in academic good standing at the end of the year; 96 percent return for their second year; and more than three-fourths graduate within five years.
Winthrop provides a matching contribution of $104,410 for the grant, while the Winthrop Foundation also provides some monetary contribution.
TRiO programs generally and TRiO SSS, in particular, transforms students from the least resources backgrounds into college graduates, said Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, D.C. “This vital program makes all the difference for nearly a million students each year across the country,” she said.
For more information, contact Gray at grayr@winthrop.edu.
