Anoka-Ramsey Community College TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) Director, Thom Nordin received a phone call from the offices of Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken Aug. 6 confirming that the college’s Coon Rapids Campus SSS program will continue to be funded. The grant award totals $1,508,460 to cover five years, 2010 - 2015.

The TRiO SSS application for 2010 - 2015 was highly competitive. At least 1,500 grants were submitted nationally, and only 906 grants were funded. In addition, existing grants needed to show a strong and compelling reason to get refunded. All existing grants needed to provide data that each program met or exceeded their objectives.

“We encourage persistence,” says Nordin. “One of the goals of the program is to help SSS students continue their education beyond the first year of college and through to graduation with an associate’s degree and then transfer to a university or college for a bachelor's degree. Another goal is to assure that students maintain good grades with good academic standing every semester.”

Funded under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, TRiO SSS provides funding for special outreach and academic support services for low-income students, most of whom are the first in their families to go to college. Nationally, students in TRiO Student Support Services programs are more than twice as likely to remain in college as those students from similar backgrounds who do not participate in the programs.

The Anoka-Ramsey TRiO SSS program has been in existence since 1993 and serves 175 participants each program year. All of the eligible participants have a need for academic support. The majority are first generation college students. The program also serves some low-income students and students with disabilities. TRiO SSS provides participants with academic and career advising, student success workshops, assistance with the financial aid process, cultural activities, campus visits to area universities, and a close-knit community of support.

For more information about the TRiO SSS program, contact Thom Nordin at 763-433-1424 or by email at thom.nordin@anokaramsey.edu .

First-generation college students (like those shown here in spring 2009) in Anoka-Ramsey Community College’s TRiO Student Support Services just heard that $1,508,460 will fund the program for the next five years, dramatically increasing their chances of being the first in their family to receive a college degree.