Dear Friends of TRIO,
One of my initiatives as President of ASPIRE, Inc. is to increase the amount of tax deductible personal donations through a Stand Up For TRIO campaign. I got the idea for the name of the campaign from one of the most common questions asked of those of us that work in TRIO programs is “What does TRIO stand for?”
I used to answer that question by saying... There isn’t a simple answer, it's not like IBM or IRS. Rather, TRIO is the name of a group of federal programs sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Well then the next question is usually, “Well how many TRIO Programs are there?” This is where things really start to get confusing…..eight! The name TRIO was coined after congress created the first three TRIO programs. Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services. Since that time, congress has created five additional Educational Opportunity Centers, Staff Training, McNair, Upward Bound Math Science, and Dissemination Partnerships. If you count Veterans Upward Bound as a separate program there's nine different TRIO programs.To make things even more confusing Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) is also administered by the Office of TRIO Programs at the U.S. Department of Education even though it isn't officially a TRIO program.
See I told you it wasn’t a simple answer…
So now when people ask me what TRIO stands for, I say TRIO stands for students.
I say TRIO stands for promoting educational access and opportunity for students from low-income and first generation backgrounds.
TRIO stands for students so that they have the opportunity to succeed, so they have a better chance of beating the statistics.
Statistically, the less education a head of a household has completed, the lower the family income.
But that creates a terrible cycle, because the lower a student's family income, the less likely they are to...
- graduate from high school
- enroll in college
- persist in college
- graduate from college
By helping students to stay in and graduate from high school, to enroll in college, and graduate from college, TRIO helps students break that cycle and beat the statistics. Congress created TRIO and the U.S. Department of Education administers TRIO, but it's those of us that work in TRIO projects across the ASPIRE region and the nation that work with the students. We stand up for students every day, we do that by giving generously of our time and our talents. We also need to give generously of our tender, our "legal tender" that is. When we give to ASPIRE, we are standing up for TRIO. When we stand up for TRIO, we are standing up for our students. If we don't stand up for them, who will?
Please print a Stand Up For TRIO form and send in your tax deductible contribution today. Whether it's $5 or $500, any amount is appreciated.
Thank you for Standing Up For TRIO!
Allyn Kostecki
President
ASPIRE, Inc.
