The grant comes from the US Department of Education and will fund the university’s student support services and resources.
Middle Tennessee State University has received a $1.5 million TRIO Student Support Services grant from the US Department of Education. The grant will continue to fund the university’s various student support services and resources that help students succeed in earning their degree.
According to an article on Middle Tennessee State University’s website, Melissa Towe, who serves as the Student Support Services program director, was quoted as saying of the grant funding, “Securing this grant underscores both the strength of our proposal and the demonstrated effectiveness of our services. It affirms that our work remains aligned with national priorities around educational access, persistence and completion for first-generation and underrepresented students. In this current climate, winning reflects our unwavering commitment to student success during a time when programs like TRIO must clearly demonstrate their value and impact.”
TRIO Student Support Services are intended to assist individuals who are first-generation college students, those who come from low-income families, and those who have disabilities obtain their college degrees. Students who are within the Student Services Services program will have access to mentoring, academic coaching, advising, and financial literacy coaching, among other services.
Speaking of what the program does for students, Towe said, “We act as their personal college guide, so to speak. We help them navigate the college systems and provide resources such as tutoring, academic advising, skill development, financial literacy and personal success coaching, to name a few. We are by their side as they reach milestones like persevering through their studies year-to-year, graduating, entering the workforce or pursuing continued education. When we get to witness these students who once doubted themselves walk across the graduation stage, there’s almost nothing as fulfilling. TRIO makes this consistent support achievable.”
Towe was instrumental in helping Alissa Belton join the TRIO Student Support Services program when she was attending the university. After Belton got the support she needed, she was able to graduate from the university and come back to work in the same program that helped her complete her education.
Belton said, “My entire life goal was to be the first in my family to go to college, but I had no idea what to do when I got here. I was without a major, without people I knew, without anyone to help me. I walked into Director Towe’s office and said, ‘I can’t do this. I quit.’ The program supported me throughout my time as a resident assistant in Housing and Residential Life, as an executive board member in my sorority, and an SSS peer mentor. SSS also made sure I got into the graduate school of my dreams.”
Belton now works as an academic counselor within the Student Support Services program, helping students like her complete their education.
For more information about Middle Tennessee State University, visit the school’s website.