TRIO/Student Support Services (SSS) Receives Major Renewal Grant
The award will help Carleton support 140 students who come from low-income backgrounds, who are the first in their family to attend college, or who have a documented disability.
On Sept. 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education awarded a $1.4 million TRIO/Student Support Services (SSS) grant to Carleton College. By providing funding through the 2024-25 academic year, the new award will help Carleton support 140 students who come from low-income backgrounds (as defined by federal guidelines), who are the first in their family to attend college, or who have a documented disability.
Carleton’s TRIO/SSS program, directed by Trey Williams, embodies a holistic cohort-based model rooted in the principles of access and opportunity. The grant will allow Carleton’s TRIO staff to continue providing individualized advising and other proven tools of success to participants. The grant will also guide efforts to increase retention, persistence, and graduation rates through innovative collaborative efforts with campus partners, including the Career Center and the Quantitative Resource Center.
“We are excited to continue the legacy, started in the ’80s, of supporting students both in and out of the classroom as they navigate their future endeavors,” Williams said. “As students’ needs are ever changing, talented TRIO staff such as Melanie Cashin, Karina Sierra, and Kathy Sommers remain dedicated to innovative programming that meets the needs of the whole student.”
TRIO/SSS will achieve ambitious objectives, including providing support for 10 more students than the previous grant and attaining a six-year graduation rate of 90% for participants. In addition, the grant will support wider efforts to increase awareness of socioeconomic class issues and challenges at Carleton. The continuation of Carleton’s TRIO/SSS program—which has been continuously funded since 1981—ensures a new generation of Carls have the support necessary to achieve their academic, personal, and career goals.
Carleton will provide significant support for the TRIO/SSS grant, complementing the $1,401,250 in Federal funding—about 57% of the total cost of the five-year program—with $1,043,725 (43%) of cash and in-kind match.