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The TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) programs are federally funded grants to support first-generation, low-income students and students with disabilities in achieving their college goals. TRIO grew out of the Civil Rights Movement and has been serving historically excluded student populations since 1964. TRIO SSS has been at CSUMB since 2001, and today we serve around 300 eligible students every year in our two programs, SSS and SSS STEM-Health Sciences. Our mission is to support and empower participants in their academic, personal, and professional growth, by offering holistic services around academic support, mentoring, career and graduate school exploration, financial literacy, social/cultural enrichment, and much more.
Over the last five years, our students have averaged:
95% good academic standing
95% persistence
75% 6-year graduation (FTF only; 81% grad rate all students)
Not to mention incredible achievements in leadership, undergraduate research, study abroad, professional development, personal resilience, and more!
Because we’re federally funded, we have strict regulations on how we can utilize our funds. With your donation, you can help us support our students in areas of additional need, and recognize the achievements and potential of our first-generation, low-income students and students with disabilities!
We can talk all day about how TRIO WORKS - but hearing it from students is the most powerful of all! Check out these comments from recent TRIO students about how the program has impacted them:
“I am more resilient, empowered, aware, confident and passionate about my abilities, identities and potential thanks to TRIO. TRIO’s guidance and support … provided me as a first-generation, low-income, minority student an environment to explore my needs, inquiries and opportunities. TRIO heard me, saw me and believed in me when I couldn’t.” - Berenice, SBS, Class of ‘22
“TRIO offered me the community and support to thrive at CSUMB. Being around the TRIO SSS [staff] really brought me joy and the best out of me. This space felt like a home and I met people I can still call my friends here. I always live by giving back the level of support and community I have received.” - Daniel, BIO, Class of ‘19
“TRIO has increased my sense of belonging in higher education and inspired me to pass that onto other students. Being a TRIO student has been so empowering and pushed me to be a peer mentor, where I learned ways to support my peers in and out of TRIO. Learning skills like personal and professional development, mental and emotional support, and being your genuine self has allowed me to become a person that is always seeking to better serve my communities.” - Nikita, SHM, Class of ‘24
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