Many students come to college facing the same problems. Some don’t know what to expect because many don’t have parents who went to college. The TRiO Program can help.
“The TRiO program has rules. Not everyone can join. The student has to be first generation or the parent who has a degree cannot live in the homestead where the student lives,” Barbara Burkart said. Burkart works for the TRiO Program.
The TRiO Program is federally funded by the United States Department of Education. At Salt Lake Community College, it funds to help 200 students a year who come from low-income families. The students eligible to be part of the TRiO Program cannot have a parent who went to college. At SLCC there are two different programs to help these first generation students.
The first program, Student Support Services, helps students who go to SLCC. The goal of Student Support is to encourage students to stay in college, get the students to graduate and help them transfer to a four-year institution.
“Ever since that time [since he joined the TRiO Program] I have completed my first two semesters of college with a 3.6 GPA at the age of 39,” former SLCC Corey Cook wrote in a paper. “During my first semester I had some trouble with Math 950 and TRiO was able to assist me with a tutor named Brandon towards the end of the semester. I passed the course at the very last moment with a GPA of 2.5.”
These first generation students have an academic advisor who they work with. The TRiO Program helps the students with financial aid, tutoring, a greater understanding of college, and offers a peer team. The TRiO Program sponsors a free workshop for all math students every Friday at 10 a.m. The math workshop is held at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus in the Technology Building room 440.
The second program, Talent Search, helps 600 high school and junior high school students. The program teaches these students how important it is to continue their education beyond high school and help with personal growth.
Nationwide there are more than 2,800 programs to help low-income students. The TRiO Program serves over 850,000 students nationally. The students range from sixth grade through college graduation, according to the TRiO Program website.
The TRiO office is located at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus in portable office three. The office is on the north end of the campus, located by Bruin Boulevard. The TRiO Program can also be found part time in the Student Center at the Academic Advising office.
For more information regarding the TRiO Program, visit www.slcc.edu/sss or contact Barbara Burkart at 801-957-4334.