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St. Olaf's successful TRiO programs targeted for elimination by federal budget cuts

By Carole Leigh Engblom
March 31, 2005

In 1965, the United States Congress established a series of programs designed to help low-income students enter college, graduate and move on to participate more fully in America's economic and social life. These federally funded pre-college programs, begun by President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of the "war on poverty," were referred to as the TRiO Programs (Educational Talent Search, Upward Bound and Student Support Services). Since 1989, the Education Department at St. Olaf College has sponsored the TRiO programs and, since 1999, the GEAR UP! program started by President Bill Clinton with the similar goal of helping students overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education.

On Feb. 7th, President George W. Bush released his 2006 budget and in it he recommended the elimination of the Educational Talent Search, Upward Bound and GEAR UP programs. Nationally, there are more than 3,000 TRiO and GEAR UP programs that serve over two million students. In Minnesota, TRiO and GEAR UP serve over 20,000 students.

"A recent study determined the effectiveness of the Upward Bound program nationwide, and the result of this study is the administration's justification for the elimination of funding for these programs," says Heather Campbell, director of the Upward Bound program at St. Olaf. "The study did not measure the long-term effects of Upward Bound on its students, schools or communities. Also, the control group was not an accurate representation of non-Upward Bound students, with 25 percent of the students in the control group receiving services from other TRiO programs."

The Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search programs at St. Olaf College have demonstrated their effectiveness, says Campbell. The Upward Bound program serves 87 students annually in St. Paul and Red Wing. Ninety-three percent of the graduates of this program go on to postsecondary education. The college's Educational Talent Search program, under the direction of Janis Johnson, serves 800 students annually at schools in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Of these students, 80 percent go on to post secondary education. Statewide, only 30 percent of low-income students go on to education after high school, making the numbers of these programs even more astonishing.

Washington Post sportswriter Ivan Carter, who graduated from St. Olaf in 1997, was in the first-ever Upward Bound summer program at St. Olaf. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Carter moved to Red Wing at age 15 to live with his grandmother, Sheila Vogland. "Basically, I had no direction and was getting into a lot of trouble in Minneapolis, so my mom sent me packing Fresh Prince of Bel Air-style," he explains. "I started high school in Red Wing, and sports took over my life. I played basketball and some football, but the best thing was that I got involved in the Upward Bound summer program following my freshman year. While I was always academically inclined and was an avid reader with goals, the program forced me to formulate a real plan of action."

Carter, who interned at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and recently left the Kansas City Star to cover sports for the Washington Post, remains a passionate supporter of the TRiO programs. "As a young African-American who grew up without a father around, it was refreshing to see 18- to 22-year-old African-American men who were in college, doing the right thing," says Carter. "They were my surrogate role models. Because the Upward Bound program drew rural white students and Native American students from Red Wing, and Latino, Hmong and black students from St. Paul, I was exposed to a bunch of different cultures, languages and customs. We were all lumped together for six weeks on this beautiful college campus, and we formed some pretty tight bonds we would never have had in our hometown high schools. You come away from that experience with a curiosity about other people and their lifestyles."

"The de-funding of the TRiO and GEAR UP programs would be a terrible loss," says St. Olaf College President Christopher M. Thomforde. "Not only do more than 300 St. Olaf students and alumni volunteer for, tutor in, and mentor for the TRiO/GEAR UP programs, the programs address the mission of the college, helping students become 'responsible and knowledgeable citizens of the world.'"

The track records of the St. Olaf programs are exemplary. They undergo rigorous annual evaluations and provide much needed services for students who are frequently bypassed by the educational system. While the nationwide rate for college participation of low-income high school graduates is 30 percent, the college-sending rates of the St. Olaf programs range from 80 to 95 percent. While at the national level, low-income students have college graduation rates of five percent or less, the St. Olaf programs' college completion/retention rates average 50 to 70 percent.

For many low-income students, obtaining a college education may seem impossible, not only to them, but to their parents and the community in which they live. "Without education, the cycle of poverty continues," says Campbell who urges supporters of the TRiO programs to write his and her elected officials and Minnesota legislators. "These programs are, for many students, the key to breaking that cycle."

Contact Carole Engblom at 507-646-3271 or leigh@stolaf.edu.