Greenville Tech awarded $2.3M grant to help students

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Greenville Technical College will receive a federal Student Support Services grant of $2.3 million over five years to help students succeed in college and graduate. The Trio Student Support Services program, in existence at the college since 1975, has helped thousands of students achieve their goals, according to a news release.

Student Support Services helps students who are low income, have parents who did not earn a four-year college degree or are students with learning or physical disabilities, the news release said. Services include academic advising, cultural activities, FAFSA assistance, financial literacy education, tours of four-year colleges, grant aid, mentoring, workshops, transfer assistance and tutoring.

The Student Support Services initiative 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. Its philosophy is based on the idea that students whose parents do not have a college degree have greater difficulty in navigating the complexity of decisions that college requires for success, the release said. It also bolsters students from low income families who have not had the academic opportunities that their college peers have had, and it helps students with disabilities remove obstacles preventing them from thriving academically.

“We are so pleased to once again receive funding for this critical program,” Alecia Watt, director of educational opportunity programs at Greenville Technical College, said in the release. “Student Support Services helps us level the playing field, giving promising students resources that make all the difference in their ability to thrive in college and finish.”