First generation, low-income and disabled West Virginia University students will continue receiving assistance through WVU s Student Support Services, thanks to a recent four-year renewal of the programs TRIO grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

WVU s grant totals just over $1 million for four years. Student Support Services, which began at WVU in 1993, assists 200 undergraduate students per year, said program director Barbara Copenhaver-Bailey.

“We work with students to assist them in adjusting to college and being successful,”she said.”One of the keys to our program is the personal aspect. We can give very personalized attention because we have three full-time professional staff members, in addition to tutors, who meet with the students on a regular basis.”

Services range from tutoring, study groups and advising to cultural and social activities.”Part of our mission is cultural enrichment, so we try to expose students to things they wouldnt otherwise have the opportunity to experience,”she said.

TRIO programs, funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, are designed to help students overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education. Over 1,200 colleges, universities, community colleges and agencies now offer TRIO programs. Nationally, students in TRIO Student Support Services programs are more than twice as likely to remain in college as those students from similar backgrounds who did not participate in the program.

At WVU , most students who elect to participate in the Student Support Services program earn their bachelors degrees.”Our annual retention rate is probably over 80 percent,”Copenhaver-Bailey said.

She added that recent graduates have gone on to law school and medical school at WVU , veterinary school at Ohio State and the University of Georgia, and a graduate social work program at the University of Chicago, among other endeavors.