Impact of Federal TRIO Programs
Regional and National Impact
• Nationally, since 1965 an estimated two million students have graduated from college with the assistance and support of the TRIO programs.
• Based upon a 2009-2010 report by the U.S. Department of Education, high school graduates in 2008-09 who participated in Upward Bound or Upward Bound Math/Science programs, enrolled in postsecondary institutions at a rate of 82 and 89.8% respectively. These rates far exceeded the national postsecondary enrollment rate of 70.1 %.1
• Students who participate in Upward Bound are four times more likely to earn an undergraduate degree than low income and/or first generation students who don’t participate.
• In the five state ASPIRE region (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming), the postsecondary persistence to the second year of college by students who participated in four-year and two-year TRIO Student Support Services programs averaged 85.4% and 81.4%, respectively.2 These rates exceeded the 77.1% rate at four-year institutions for all students nationally, and the 54.3% persistence rate for two-year institutions nationally.3
• Students in the TRIO Student Support Services program are more than twice as likely to remain in college than low income and/or first generation students who don’t participate.
• The TRIO program called Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement is one of only a few programs in America that prepares and encourages low-income, first generation and minority undergraduates to prepare for doctoral study.
Impact in North Dakota
In North Dakota, the postsecondary persistence to the second year of college by students who participated in two-year and four-year TRIO Student Support Services programs was 89.8% and 76.3%, respectively, compared to the North Dakota rates of 54% for all state two-year institutions, and 73.8% for all four-year institutions.4
• Over 4,000 low income and/or first generation North Dakota students are receiving retention based supplemental academic services from TRIO programs, designed to prepare students for completing a postsecondary education.
• Students attending rural schools and Native American reservation schools represent the greatest percentage of students participating in TRIO programs in North Dakota. These two groups of students are traditionally underrepresented at the postsecondary level.
1. U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010). College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2009 High School Graduates; U. S. Department of Education (2010). Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math-Science Grantee-Level Performance Results: 2009–10.
2. U. S. Department of Education (2010). TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Performance & Efficiency Measure Results: 2009-10.
3. NCHEMS Information Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (2010). www.HigherEdinfo.org.
4.U.S. Department of Education (2010). TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Performance & Efficiency Measure Results 2009-10; NCHEMS (2010). www.HigherEdinfo.org: State Profile 2010.
