Zane State College’s TRIO – Student Support Services Program (TRIO SSS) announced that it has received funding for the next five years through the Student Support Services Program of the United States Department of Education. TRIO SSS received news of the funding from Senator Sherrod Brown’s office regarding the status of the application. The total funding for the next academic year is $261,888, and the overall award for the five-year grant will be over $1.3 million.
“Zane State College is pleased to partner with the United States Department of Education to provide additional student support services so that we assure every student is able to reach their academic goal. TRIO SSS is an outstanding national program, and we are motivated and ready to continue the Zane State tradition of breaking down barriers and reducing achievement gaps, allowing us to lead the state in associate degree attainment. Opportunities such as this help the College realize its vision of: A promising future for every one,” said Dr. Richard Woodfield, provost & chief academic officer.
TRIO SSS is a program that supports students self-identifying as first-generation, limited income, or living with a disability. The program’s goal is to help student participants reach their educational goals. Program success is based on three main objectives:
Persistence rate, which is the number of students who return from one year to the next;
Good academic standing, meaning students are maintaining good grades; and,
Graduation and transfer, which means the numbers of students who finish their associate degree and transfer to a four-year institution.
Each year since 2010, TRIO SSS assists 144 eligible students of the College to meet their academic goals of persisting, graduating, and transferring to bachelor’s program. “In the past five years, the rates at which the students receiving TRIO SSS services have persisted from year to year have averaged 85 percent,” said Dr. Joyce Addo-Anum, TRIO SSS project director. “TRIO SSS participants in good academic standing, meaning their grade point averages are 2.0 or better, have averaged 85 percent, and the program’s four-year graduation rate is roughly 54 percent. Although the participants in this program are resilient, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the systemic inequality and financial hardship that keeps promising students from succeeding in College, making student support services more vital than ever before.”
The grant allows TRIO SSS to continue serving eligible students and helps members of the community realize that their educational goals are within reach. For more information about the TRIO SSS program, contact Dr. Addo-Anum at jaddoanum@zanestate.edu.
