University Letter

UND's faculty and staff newsletter

TRIO receives Talent Search and Educational Opportunity Center grants from Department of Education

The University of North Dakota has once again been awarded both a TRIO/Talent Search and TRIO/Educational Opportunity Center grant from the Department of Education. The goal of these programs is to ensure secondary school graduation and increase the college enrollment rate and successful degree completion among low-income, first-generation participants as they make the transition from one level of education to the next. Talent Search and Educational Opportunity Center are two of seven TRIO programs offered by the Department of Education, and two of five TRIO programs at UND who combined serve nearly 3,000 participants annually.

The Talent Search program provides opportunities for middle school and high school students at area target schools. Services include career exploration and decision making, financial literacy, academic preparation, college exploration, as well as assistance with financial aid forms and college applications.

The Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) serves adults in North Dakota and Northwest Minnesota who are interested in completing their secondary degree, exploring the option of attending postsecondary education, career decision making, college advisement, and assistance with financial aid forms and college applications.

UND received notification this month from Washington D.C. that both our Talent Search and EOC grant applications were approved for the upcoming five-year funding cycle. Nationally there are 2,971 TRIO Programs serving over 800,000 students. The Talent Search and EOC competitions were extremely competitive once again. There were nearly 850 Talent Search applications submitted and 451 successfully funded, and over 550 EOC applications, with only 126 successfully funded. Programs are awarded grants based on the quality of the grant application, support from the institution, and student need in the particular geographic area served by the grant.

TRIO is the largest Department of Education grant program, and assists low-income and/or first-generation students achieve academic success. TRIO was established by the Department of Education in response to President Johnson’s “War on Poverty” in 1964. UND was awarded its first TRIO grant in 1965. Since that time, UND has added five separate TRIO grants each serving a specific age demographic. The TRIO Programs at UND include: Talent Search (middle school and high school students); Upward Bound, (high school intervention); Educational Opportunity Center (adults re-entering secondary/post-secondary education); Student Support Services (enrolled UND undergraduates); and McNair (UND juniors or seniors interested in PhD. research).   TRIO Programs have been supported by UND for over 50 years, making UND one of the longest continually running TRIO programs in the country!

— Derek Sporbert, TRIO Programs, 777.3418, derek.sporbert@UND.edu.