TRIO Student Support Services

Our purpose is to assist degree-seeking students in completing their degree at Kilgore College, and then assist them in transferring to a four-year university.

History of the Program:

TRIO was first introduced in 1968 under the Higher Education Act. TRIO referred to three programs: Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services. These three programs were designed to assist eligible students to begin and complete a post-secondary education.

Upward Bound was created by the Educational Opportunity Act of 1964 which was originally the War on Poverty statute. Upward Bound was created to help eligible people and veterans prepare for higher education. Talent Search programs serve young people in grades six through twelve to better understand their educational opportunities and options. When the 1968 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act created Student Support Services and transferred Upward Bound out of the Office of Economic Opportunity into the Higher Education Act, the TRIO label was born.

In 1972, the EOC (Educational Opportunity Centers) Program was added, and in 1986, the McNair Scholar Program was created. Five programs currently reside under the original title TRIO. Here at Kilgore College, we are proud to be a recipient of the Student Support Services grant. This enables us to help eligible students achieve success at Kilgore College and transfer to a four-year university.