The Trio Programs

This report serves as an introduction to the TRIO programs. The TRIO programs are the primary federal programs providing support services to disadvantaged students to promote achievement in postsecondary education. This report provides a description of the TRIO programs, authorized in Title IV-A-2-1 of the Higher Education Act (HEA), as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA; P.L. 110-315) in 2008. Key program amendments of the HEOA as implemented through final Department of Education (ED) regulations published in 2010 are discussed. The report is intended to support congressional understanding of the programs, summarize recent evaluations and performance reports, and review the Department of Education's progress in implementing HEOA. In FY2012, the TRIO programs were funded at $840 million and served almost 800,000 secondary, postsecondary, and adult students. The TRIO programs have been designed to prepare qualified individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds for postsecondary education and encourage their success throughout the educational pipeline from secondary school to undergraduate and graduate education. While the TRIO programs primarily serve low-income, first-generation college students, they also serve students with disabilities, veterans, homeless youth, foster youth, and individuals underrepresented in graduate education. The TRIO programs are also designed to award prior grantees that implement successful projects and propose high-quality projects with subsequent grants before awarding applicants without prior TRIO experience. There are six TRIO programs, each serving a different demographic. The TRIO Upward Bound (UB) Program serves secondary school students, providing relatively intensive preparation services and encouragement to help students pursue education beyond secondary school. The TRIO Talent Search (TS) Program provides less intensive services than UB in support of the completion of high school and enrollment in postsecondary education, and it encourages primarily students and out-of-school youth. The TRIO Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) Program primarily serves adults. The TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) Program motivates undergraduate students to complete their undergraduate education. The Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (McNair) Program prepares undergraduate students for graduate school. Finally, the TRIO Staff Development (Training) Program trains TRIO project staff to be more effective. Several TRIO program provisions were amended through the HEOA. Two key HEOA amendments address issues pertaining to the application review process: scoring and second reviews (appeals). The first amendment defined outcome criteria that require the secretary and each grantee to agree upon objectives/targets for the criteria. The extent to which grantees meet or exceed these objectives determines the number of prior experience (PE) points the grantee may earn as part of its application in the next grant competition. Earning more PE points increases the likelihood of funding. The FY2011 TS and EOC and FY2012 UB grant competitions requested that applicants propose objectives for the statutorily defined outcome criteria. The second amendment established an application review process by which those unsuccessful applicants that can identify a specific technical, administrative, or scoring error may have their applications reviewed a second time (appealed). The FY2012 TRIO UB competition is the first to use the revised application review process.