Kirkwood Community College has secured two federal TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grants totaling $624,895 annually for the next five years.
The funding, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, aims to improve retention and graduation rates for students who are low-income, first-generation, or have disabilities.
The grants represent continued funding for two of the college’s five TRIO programs, which have served students at Kirkwood for over three decades. The general TRIO SSS program will receive $352,531 each year, supporting 175 students annually. An additional $272,364 will go to the SSS English as a Second Language (SSS-ESL) program, which serves 140 students and is in its second five-year cycle. The SSS-ESL initiative is one of only a dozen of its kind nationally.
“These programs are vital to student success as they play an important role in helping students who may face additional challenges,” said Mallory Petsche, director of Kirkwood’s TRIO SSS-ESL program. “With this support, we can continue offering services that help students stay on track, build confidence, and reach their academic goals.”
TRIO SSS and SSS-ESL provide students with academic tutoring, financial aid and scholarship guidance, mentoring, and career counseling. These services are designed to help students complete degrees or transfer to four-year institutions with minimal debt.
A 2019 evaluation by the U.S. Department of Education found that students in SSS programs at two-year institutions were 48% more likely to earn an associate degree or transfer compared to similar peers. At four-year institutions, students in the program were 18% more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree.
“TRIO programs generally and TRIO SSS, in particular, transforms students from the least resourced backgrounds into college graduates,” said Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, D.C.
The Student Support Services program is one of eight federal TRIO initiatives established under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Notable TRIO program alumni include Michael Cashman, Town Supervisor of Plattsburgh, NY; former NASA astronaut José Hernández; and Cheryl Johnson, 36th Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
