The federally funded TRIO Programs have had a progressive history. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the first TRIO Program was the Upward Bound Program, which emerged out of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Two more programs, the Talent Search Program (1965) and the Student Support Services Program (1968), soon followed. Through the funding of these original three programs, the term “TRIO” was coined to describe these programs. The name obviously stuck because the program still uses it today in spite of the addition of several other programs: Educational Opportunity Centers (1972) Training Programs for Federal TRIO Program (1976) the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program (1986), the Upward Bound Math and Science Program (1990) and the TRIO Dissemination Partnership Program (1998).
Currently, about 2,700 TRIO Programs provide services to nearly 873,000 low-income Americans. In Texas alone, 194 TRIO Programs serve 58,403 students. TRIO programs provide a vast and varied degree of services for students at different stages of their academic development.
So, as you see, TRIO Programs have been around for forty years. The TCU TRIO Programs have been a part of this wonderful journey for thirty-nine years, with the TCU Upward Bound Program originally funded in 1969.
Although a lot has changed, some things have remained the same. TRIO programs provide effective services that produce positive results and outcomes. TRIO programs staff genuinely care about each student’s academic and emotional well-being. TRIO Programs provide a safe haven for students to form bonds that will last a life time.
Come be a part of tradition.