Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how I--and many other students--became first-generation college students (FGCSs) by exploring the rise and retraction of TRIO. Originally, TRIO was a set of three college access and retention programs created in the 1960s to address the needs of a population designated as academically and…

The passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which extended need-based financial assistance to the general population for the first time, has improved college access for American students, but more work remains to be done to improve college success. According to government statistics, in 2006, about one in six students had earned a degree or…

In 1965, appalled by the racial disparity with respect to access to higher education, the federal government implemented the Higher Education Act. After more than 40 years of programmatic intervention, gaps persist. As such, this study analyzes two of the three original HEA programs--Upward Bound and Talent Search--focusing on race/ethnicity and…

Created in 1972, the Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) Program, one of eight TRIO Programs, funds EOC projects at two- and four-year colleges and universities and public or private agencies or organizations to assist adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter or continue a postsecondary education program. Participants in EOC projects…

The U.S. Department of Education's Strategic Plan 2002-2007 (2002) established an objective to "reduce the gaps in college access and completion among student populations differing by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and disability while increasing the educational attainment of all." Upward Bound, which made its first awards in…