TRIO Talent Search identifies and assists individuals who have the potential to succeed in higher education. TRIO Talent Search provides academic and career counseling, tutoring and financial literacy referrals, and encourages participants to graduate from high school and continue on to a post-secondary institution of their choice. The program also serves adults interested in returning to school by encouraging them to reenter the education system and complete a post-secondary degree.  It is a grant-funded program, and part of Grand Valley State University's Division of Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach.

TRIO began with President Lyndon B. Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. It was Johnson's Higher Education Act of 1965 that created TRIO Educational Talent Search, which has been a national institution for 50 years. Together, TRIO Upward Bound (1964), TRIO Educational Talent Search (1965) and TRIO Student Support Services (1968) are the three programs that create TRIO's namesake. Now, more than 2,700 TRIO Programs currently serve nearly 866,000 students. TRIO Educational Talent Search is the only TRIO program that serves both middle and high school students.

The ultimate goal of TRIO Educational Talent Search is to increase youths in post-secondary educational institutions around the United States. Two-thirds of TRIO Educational Talent Search's students must be limited-income, first generation college students. It is not our goal to recruit students for Grand Valley State University, but to make sure that the students we serve attend a college that is right for them. With TRIO, students can make a difference in their lives, their communities, and in their education.

See the U.S. Department of Education website for more information about TRIO Educational Talent Search or other Federal TRIO Programs.