USD Receives Substantial Student Support Services Grant
The USD SSS program is in its sixth year, and since its inception, the program has helped over 50 students graduate.
“We are so pleased to announce that we have received the Student Support Services grant for another five years,” said Kim Grieve, vice president of student services and dean of students.
SSS helps college students who are low income, first generation (those whose parents do not have a four-year college degree) or students with disabilities who have academic need. The array of services the grant will provide are comprehensive and will include academic tutoring, FAFSA and financial literacy advice, career and college planning, and academic advising. Such services enhance academic success and make it more likely that students will persist and graduate or transfer with the lowest possible debt.
“The best part of SSS is the students,” said Christine Lesher, TRIO director. “These students are full of knowledge, resilience and grit, and when they reach their personal, social and academic goals, the sky is the limit!”
SSS began in 1968 and is one of the eight federal TRIO 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; it bolsters students from low 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.
To learn more about USD’s TRIO-SSS, visit usd.edu/trio.
