Maine Educational Opportunity Association   In The News

TRiO Day 2005

40th Anniversary Celebration of College Preparatory Programs for Low-Income Families Overshadowed by Bush Proposal for Elimination

Warwick, Rhode Island - On February 26, 2005, the New England Educational Opportunity Association will sponsor a celebration marking the 40th Anniversary of the federally-funded TRIO programs with a TRIO DAY event at the Radisson Airport Hotel Providence, 2081 Post Road. Over 600 high school students are expected to attend. Activities include a College Fair with over 40 colleges represented and a banner contest and rally. Guests include Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

TRIO programs help low-income and first-generation college students prepare for successful completion of undergraduate and graduate studies and are represented by five programs: Upward Bound, Talent Search, Student Support Services, the McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program and Educational Opportunity Centers. Established as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965, these programs have helped an estimated 2.2 million Americans earn a college degree. In New England, TRIO currently serves almost 50,000 participants. President Bush is proposing to eliminate the two pre-college TRIO programs, Upward Bound and Talent Search, to fund the high school component of No Child Left Behind.

updated 3/08/05by Stephen Davis