Worcester State University has been awarded a $1.3 million federal TRIO Student Support Services grant to strengthen the academic success and graduation outcomes of low income, first-generation students and students with disabilities.
The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education will establish a TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Program in the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) serving 140 students. The program will offer individualized academic support, advising, tutoring, mentoring, career/graduate school guidance and financial literacy.
“This award speaks to Worcester State’s longtime commitment to opening doors and removing barriers so all students in our community can succeed in college,” said Worcester State President Barry Maloney. “A bachelor’s degree is a transformative credential, and with the TRIO Student Support Services grant we will do even more to make it possible for students to become college graduates and achieve their dreams.”
Today, 26 percent of Worcester State students are from low-income backgrounds, 53 percent of students are the first in their family to attend college, and 4 percent have a disability. The program will begin accepting its first cohort of students this semester.
“The TRIO SSS program will be a critical tool in Worcester State’s student success programming,” said Mary Jo Marion, associate vice president for University and Community Engagement. “It targets support and resources to the most vulnerable students.”
This award marks the return of TRIO to Worcester State. The university was first awarded a TRIO grant in 1980 and received multiple grants through the years to serve students with disabilities, students learning English as a second language and students from low-income backgrounds.
“This grant provides the opportunity for us to meet the challenge the pandemic has done unto our learners. We aim to deepen our commitment to equitable student success,” said Laxmi Bissoondial, director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, who will oversee the new TRIO SSS program. “As a former TRIO participant myself, I know first hand the impact TRIO has had within economically disadvantaged communities and where college attendance was once rare. I’m thrilled to see the return of the new TRIO SSS Program and honored to lead this legacy of opportunity.”
WSU junior biology major Eduarda Luiza Braga is a first-gen student and president of the student-led club, First Gen Student Nation. As she transitioned to Worcester State after high school, she participated in OMA’s AID Summer Bridge program, which provides wrap-around support, an academic learning community, peer support, faculty mentoring, skills development, budget management and degree planning. Braga says she is thrilled to learn that the university will direct more resources to first-gen students through the new TRIO grant.
“The difficult thing about being a first-gen student is not having a personal experience to relate to or a family experience,” she said. “I’m the eldest and oldest daughter and I’m the first person in my family to go to college. I can’t really consult with my sisters and mom. With this first-gen SSS grant, it will help include more of our experiences and help reach out to the first-gen community and tell them they are not alone.”
The student club, First Gen Student Nation, has about 20 members who meet a few times a month. There are students from a wide variety of backgrounds, Braga said. What they share is the common experience of coming to college on their own and trying to navigate the new challenges of being an undergraduate – from filling out paperwork, to class registration, to learning how to keep up with academic work.
“My first year, I was a commuter and I didn’t have a license or car,” she said. “Every week I got an Uber to go to class. It was hard for me to find funds to travel and commute to class. I had to learn how to pull myself together,” Braga said. “As the oldest daughter, there are a lot of expectations to turn out differently than my parents. I have this notion that finishing college and getting a degree is the best course of action to take in my life to have a stable and easier life.”
Established nationally more than 60 years ago, TRIO programs have served millions of students across the United States. Among the luminaries who used TRIO as a springboard to success are Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, the first Hispanic astronaut; Wisconsin Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Oracle entrepreneur Rich Niemiec, Oklahoma Sen. Anastasia Pittman, actress Viola Davis, and Quintin Bullock, president of the Community College of Allegheny County, PA.
Top Photo: First generation students who participated in OMA’s AID Summer Bridge program.