TRIO is a federally funded outreach program dedicated to helping students who may need extra academic support across all four ASU campuses and the country.
Students with disabilities, first-generation, low-income and veteran students have the opportunity to join the program at any time. TRIO's name originates from these three areas of service.
TRIO was officially established in 1965 and since has helped over 850,000 students. ASU has nine federal programs dedicated to high school, veteran and in-college students, according to TRIO at ASU.
Patty Santillanes-Soto, a program director for TRIO Student Support Services and for STEM Health Sciences at the Downtown Phoenix campus, graduated as a TRIO member from ASU in 2019 with her master's in social work.
Being a part of TRIO helped Santillanes-Soto find a community that supported and helped her throughout her time at the University.
"I felt like I had community. I felt like I had people that had similar backgrounds to me," Santillanes-Soto said, citing her experience as a first-generation student from a low-income household. "It made me feel less alone."
Santillanes-Soto has been working for TRIO for over three years to ensure the grant requirements are met within the program.
TRIO is federally funded by the Board of Education and has a new grant cycle every five years. The program is required to support a specific amount of students based on the campus.
The board will determine if the program will get its grant renewed based on the completion of criteria met in the previous grant cycle.
According to Meghan McDermott, a program coordinator for TRIO at the Downtown campus, if the program does not meet the required students served, the grant funding could be impacted.
McDermott said the Board of Education sets a required number of students the program must service every grant cycle.
"A service could be anything from a one-on-one meeting, event attendance, workshop attendance," McDermott said. "That's why student engagement is so important to us because not all students need and or want those one-on-one appointments."
The program offers many services throughout the year that help with professional development, financial literacy and personal wellness. They provide free tutoring, workshops and resource rentals, such as free printing and access to computers.
Di'Andre Cruz, a senior studying social work, joined TRIO this year and said that TRIO's outreach helps him and other students succeed in completing their college education.
"They're always advocating for their students and making sure the students have what they need to succeed so they can continue college education," Cruz said.
In past years, TRIO held cultural and fun events, such as taking students to ASU Gammage to see "Hamilton."
"Being able to do some things like that, too, that help with community building but also providing a space for students to feel like they have additional support," Santillanes-Soto said.
The program is ending its 2020-25 grant cycle and is looking forward to the new opportunities the 2025-30 grant could provide.
With the start of a new grant cycle, McDermott said more space is given to have a fresh start and hopes to see the TRIO community grow in the upcoming years and eventually add more programs.
"I think a lot of it is just talking to students and explaining to them the value of TRIO," McDermott said. "And I think once people understand what TRIO is and the support that it can provide, I think then the value speaks for itself."
Edited by Senna James, Abigail Beck, Tiya Talwar and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at alillest@asu.edu and follow @allylillestol on X.
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Allison is a sophomore studying journalism and mass communication. This is her first semester at The State Press. She has also worked at Arizona PBS and Blaze Radio.
