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 UTSA TRIO Mission Statement

Empowering participants to complete post-secondary education through pre-college preparation, undergraduate scholarly research and the pursuit of excellence.

Purpose of TRIO Programs

The TRIO Programs are federally-funded programs dedicated to helping first generation, low-income students succeed in their precollege performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits.

The Pre-college Programs provide fundamental support to participants in their preparation for college entrance. Whereas, the goal of the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program is to  increase the attainment of Ph.D. degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society.

History of TRIO Programs

The term "TRIO" was coined in the late 1960's to describe three federally-funded educational opportunity outreach programs.  The three original TRIO programs  included Upward Bound (the oldest of the programs), which emerged out of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 in response to the administration's War on Poverty; Educational Talent Search, which was created as part of the Higher Education Act of 1965; and Student Support Services, which was included in the Higher Education Amendments of 1968.

Since the development of the three original TRIO programs, three additional programs have been added.  Educational Opportunity Centers were authorized as part of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972; training programs for federal TRIO programs known as the Training Program for Special Programs Staff and Leadership Personnel were authorized as part of the Higher Education Amendments of 1976.  The sixth program, the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement program, was part of the Amendments of 1986.

Additionally, in 1990, the Upward Bound Math/Science program was created to address the specific need for instruction in the fields of math and science. This program is part of and administered under the same regulations as the classic Upward Bound program as is the Veteran's Upward Bound program, a program designed specifically for veterans.

Programs Offered at UTSA

Currently, there are seven TRIO programs at UTSA:  Educational Talent Search (San Antonio and Outreach), Upward Bound (Northside and Southside) and Upward Bound Math & Science (San Antonio and Medina Valley) and Ronald E. McNair.

We welcome and encourage participation regardless of race, national origin, gender, or disability

(Department of Education's General Education Provision - GEPA Section 427).