UWM TRIO Student Support Services Program

As the UWM TRIO Student Support Services director, I was privileged to es**rt and hood Army Captain Jalen Carney, Ph.D., at last Sunday's UW Milwaukee graduation. While working to earn his doctorate, Jalen was my Graduate Program Assistant and had been a TRIO McNair Scholar. So proud!

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#protecttrio #trioworks #highereducation #collegeaccess #firstgenerationstudents #educationalequity #studentsuccess #advocacy #federaltrioprograms #leadership | Council for Opportunity in Education Federal TRIO Programs are under unprecedented threat, and now is the time for every TRIO supporter to act. TRIO has opened doors for generations of first-generation students, students from limited-income backgrounds, veterans, adult learners, and students with disabilities—providing the academic s...

DID YOU KNOW? Relationships, a form of what sociologists call social capital, matter a great deal. A growing body of research illuminates the importance of personal connections and networks, which are especially crucial for marginalized students, enabling those without financial resources and college know-how to benefit from people who have both.

One recent study found that the components of grit did not predict first-generation students’ GPAs, though access to social capital with faculty and staff did. Another study traced the importance of existing and informal relationships among first-generation students seeking information and campus resources they needed to persist. Yes, how hard you try in college is important, but so, too, is who you know. (Read the compeling story supporting these findings at https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-redemption-of-frederick-shegog?

The Redemption of Frederick Shegog What a six-time dropout learned about getting through college.

https://www.ecampusnews.com/ai-in-education/2025/09/24/future-proof-your-career-human-centered-majors-in-the-ai-era/

Future proof your career: Human-centered majors in the AI era The most successful professionals will be those who know how to leverage AI in a career field, while doubling down on human skills.

DID YOU KNOW? According to 2022 data from Common App, about 450,000 applicants that year met the federal definition, meaning that neither parent had a bachelor’s degree, including about 300,000 students whose parents had never attended any college....the purpose of identifying students as first-generation is to understand whether they have people in their family who can support them with college-going knowledge, but that’s often harder to determine than asking simply “Are you the first in your family to attend college?” What to learn more, read: 🤓https://hechingerreport.org/to-better-serve-first-generation-students-expand-the-definition/?

To better serve first-generation students, expand the definition Researchers say the federal definition of first-generation students is too narrow, and excludes many students.

DID YOU KNOW? Prime-age workers (ages 25–54) with a bachelor’s degree earn 70 percent more at the median than workers with only a high school diploma and face much lower unemployment rates (2.9 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively).

A new report from provides insight into key outcomes—including median earnings, the graduate degree earnings premium, and unemployment rates—associated with various majors for prime-age workers and recent college graduates. Find more here:

The Major Payoff: Evaluating Earnings and Employment Outcomes Across Bachelor's Degrees - CEW Georgetown In The Major Payoff: Evaluating Earnings and Employment Outcomes Across Bachelor's Degrees, CEW analysis underscores that a college degree is a worthwhile investment.

Is this the new normal from the U.S. Department of Education?

U.S. Department of Education Releases Secretary McMahon’s Meaningful Learning and Workforce Readiness Supplemental Priorities Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced her sixth and seventh proposed supplemental priorities for the U.S. Department of Education’s discretionary grants: Meaningful Learning as well as Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness.

This morning on Good Morning America, https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/video/125357309.

Future of federal TRIO programs at risk "GMA" examines a federal initiative that has long provided opportunities for disadvantaged students nationwide but now faces potential threats.

The U.S. Department of Education has announced awarding a 2025-2030 discretionary grant to University of Wisconsin Milwaukee's TRIO Student Support Services. This highly competitive TRIO program has served UWM first-generation, low-income, and students with disabilities, encouraging and supporting them to achieve collegiate degrees since 1970.