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Miami Regionals awarded $1.3 million to assist students in graduating from college

Written by Tracy Miller, Marketing & Communications

TRIO student meeting with advisor.

Miami University Regionals TRIO Student Support Services program has been selected for renewed funding from the U.S. Department of Education. The five-year, $1.3 million grant is Miami’s second in the past five years.

Working in partnership with the Tutoring and Learning Center, and the offices of diversity and multicultural services, disability services, academic advising, financial aid and other student support offices, TRIO provides services to Pell Grant recipients, first-generation students or students with documented disabilities, helping them to graduate on schedule with the lowest amount of financial debt. Since 2015, the program has served more than 500 students at the Regionals.

“We are definitely proud of what our students have accomplished,” said Jamie Viars, regional director. Viars, who has been with the program since 2016, is excited about how much it has grown. “We anticipate serving 140 students per year and look forward to finding innovative ways to engage our students in a virtual environment.”

Started in 1968, the TRIO Student Support Services began as one of the eight federal programs authorized by the Higher Education Act to help college students succeed in higher education. It recognizes that students whose parents do not have a college degree have more difficulties navigating the complexity of decisions that college requires for success. The program bolsters students from limited-income families who have not had the academic opportunities that their college peers have had and helps students with disabilities remove obstacles preventing them from thriving academically.

Previous Miami Regionals participants have gone on to student leadership positions at the university, post-graduate studies and positions in a variety of in-demand industries.