TRIO Student Support Services

What the program offers

Student Support Services, often shortened to SSS, is a federal program funded through the Department of Education and run by individual colleges. Each program serves students who are the first in their family to go to college, students from families with low incomes and students with disabilities. The services usually include tutoring, academic advising, help understanding financial aid and guidance on managing money.

For a first-generation student, the advising tends to matter most. An SSS advisor can explain how registration works, what a hold on your account means and when to drop a class, which are things a parent who went to college might have explained at the kitchen table. Many programs also help students apply to graduate school or transfer to a four-year college.

How the first-generation part is defined

For TRIO, first generation generally means that neither of your parents finished a bachelor's degree. A parent who took some college classes, or earned an associate degree, usually still fits that definition. If you grew up with only one parent, the rule looks at that parent.

Students from families with low incomes and students with disabilities are the program's other groups, and some students fit more than one. The application asks about each of them, so answer every question even when your family history seems to settle the matter. The program applies the exact wording, and its staff can explain a complicated case.

Apply in your first weeks on campus, or during the summer if the program accepts applications then.

Finding the office and getting a place

Colleges compete for SSS grants, so the program runs on some campuses and not others. Search your college's website for TRIO or Student Support Services, or ask at the advising center. Programs operate at community colleges as well as four-year schools.

Each program can serve only a set number of students, and spaces can fill early in the fall term. Apply in your first weeks on campus, or during the summer if the program accepts applications then. If the program is full, ask to join its waiting list and ask what other advising the college offers in the meantime.

Other TRIO programs you may hear about

Upward Bound, Talent Search and Educational Opportunity Centers work with students before college, so you may have met one of them in high school. The McNair Scholars Program prepares students from similar backgrounds for doctoral study, and some colleges host it alongside SSS.

If you took part in Upward Bound or Talent Search, tell the SSS office. Staff there often know the high school programs in their area and can pick up where that help left off.