February

Say hurray for TRIO Day!

Students and politicians will gather at Colorado’s Capitol this week to celebrate a truly inspirational student program.

By Mark Cox

February 20, 2017

If you walk past the State Capitol this Friday, don’t be surprised to see a little whooping and celebrating. Because that’s where this year’s state TRIO Day is taking place.

TRIO is a national, federal grant-funded program that promotes access to education for under-represented communities. (More than 200 MSU Denver students are currently part of the program.)

The event will bring together TRIO program members and other educational access programs from across Colorado. Their purpose? To tell state legislators about the valuable work they do to create access to college and improve completion rates for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

High performance

Now is a good time to make noise about TRIO, because it has been a great success at MSU Denver.

Consider this: MSU Denver’s general student population as a whole has a student persistence rate of 69 percent from fall to fall. But for students in the TRIO program (and these are students, remember, who traditionally face the most challenges) the persistence rate is over 90 percent.

Put simply, with help from TRIO, these students have a greater success rate than the general student population. They stay in school, and they graduate.

Strong support

None of this comes as a surprise to Brandi Scott, director of TRiO Student Support Services.

According to Scott, “The feedback we get is always overwhelmingly positive. Our students tell us three things: they feel connected to MSU Denver; they feel supported personally; and they are confident of getting the right academic support.

“Basically, TRIO has become a one-stop shop where students can feel involved and know for sure they’ll always get the support they need.”

Find out more about the TRIO Student Support Services program.