TRIO programs get federal funding

Three TRIO programs at Grand Valley State University that rely on federal money were refunded with grants totaling $3.9 million.

The term 'TRIO' was coined in the 1960s to describe three original federal outreach programs that assist low-income, first-generation college and disabled students from middle school to graduate school. TRIO has since expanded its services. Grand Valley has five programs (Educational Connections, Educational Support Program, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math and Science, and McNair Scholars Program) that serve 1,290 students and area residents annually.

With the programs refunded, Smith Alexander is creating a service-learning program for Upward Bound and McNair students that would help recruit Native American students to Grand Valley and retain those already enrolled. Her interest in this project peaked after traveling to a South Dakota reservation where most of the Indians lived below the poverty level.

During their week at Pine Ridge, Smith Alexander said her group sanded and stained beds. 'For many of these individuals, it was the first time they slept in beds,' she said. 'I've seen poverty before, but when I was there, I didn't even feel like I was in this country.

'We could integrate the program into the Grand Rapids community, Upper Peninsula, or as far away as the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota,' she said.

In August, TRIO director Arnie Smith Alexander was notified that the Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math and Science and McNair Scholars were refunded by the U.S. Department of Education. The Upward Bound programs that serve high school students each received four-year grants of more than $1 million; McNair Scholars Program, which helps college students from populations under-represented at the doctoral level gain graduate school admission, received a five-year $1.2 million grant.