CHADRON – The eight programs under the TRIO umbrella were created under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. The TRIO name comes from the first three programs implemented: Upward Bound, Talent Search, and Student Support Services.

The Act was reauthorized regularly by Congress until 2013 and has been extended through various measures since 2014. It faces funding cuts or possible elimination under the budget bill currently before Congress.

Among notable graduates of TRIO programs are talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, actress Viola Davis, basketball player Patrick Ewing, and Franklin Chang-Diaz, the first Hispanic astronaut.

Chadron State College was first approved to provide TRIO programs in 1967 and most recently has grouped them under the name, Project Strive. In 2023 CSC’s participation in Upward Bound was reauthorized for four years. Student Support Services, another of the TRIO programs, offered at CSC, was approved from 1972 to 1991, and has been reauthorized every five years since 2001.

The stated objectives of CSC’s Project Strive are to identify and enroll 160 eligible students, including at least two-thirds who are both low-income and first generation or have disabilities, with the remaining one-third qualifying in any one of the categories; to have at least 80 percent of participants persist from one academic year to the next, at least 65 percent remain in good academic standing, and to have at least 40 percent graduate within six years.

CSC Project Strive statistics from 2021 to 2025 show a persistence rate of 90 percent, good standing rate of 96 percent, and a graduation rate of 66 percent.

Project Strive staff at CSC include Director Jennifer Schaer, Counselor Sonja Dressel, Retention Specialist Amanda Lewin, and Academic Advisor Susan Rolfsmeier. Upward Bound staff include Director Heather Wiles, Academic Advisor for Chadron and Alliance High Schools Kevin Coy, and Academic Advisor for Crawford Brad Gaston.