What are the Academic Needs of

TRiO Eligible Students?

Executive Summary
We set out to better understand the academic needs of
students who utilize the TRiO program at Carl Sandburg
Community College (Sandburg). We held four focus
groups over the course of two weeks during the Spring
2019 semester and this allowed us an opportunity to
learn a bit more about how students at Sandburg
experience and perceive the TRiO program.
The Goal
We wanted to answer the question:
What are the academic needs of TRiO students?
Assessment Methods
Four focus groups were conducted through video-
conferencing software over the course of two weeks.

Four themes emerged from the conversations held with
students: Community, Resources, Impact of TRiO, and
Strategies of Perseverance.
Students use TRiO services as a way to meet their needs
of building community and equipping themselves with
resources in order to navigate the college environment
and persevere to transfer to a four-year institution.
What is TRiO?
TRiO is a program offered at Sandburg and other colleges
and universities across the United States that provides
support and guidance to first-generation students of low
socio-economic backgrounds and is fully funded through
the US Department of Education (USDE).
We spoke to students and asked questions about
overcoming challenges, what success looks like to them,
and what they think they need to know to transfer to a
four-year college or university.
Findings + Implications
Students told us that they use the TRiO program at
Sandburg to meet their needs of Community and
Resources, and this enables them to develop Strategies
to Persevere.
We developed a Perseverance Exchange Model to
illustrate the relationships students described.

In order to be eligible for TRiO, students must meet the

following as defined by the USDE:
• Be a US citizen or permanent resident
• Possess low family income
• Be a first-generation college student
• Demonstrate an academic need for services
(USDE, 2019)

At Sandburg, students must be in a program with the

In order to ensure the continued success of students in
intention of transferring to a four-year institution.
TRiO, we recommend deliberate, sustained effort to
build community and intentional collaboration with
resources on campus, such as the Tutoring Centre.
 Impact of TRiO
Student Testimonials
Community
We have a study group [organized by TRiO] for our bio
class and that helps a lot because if I didn't have that I
feel like I wouldn't ever study or ever really care about
learning this stuff but there was also students in there
and they felt the exact same way so we would talk to each
other and try to make each other feel better about it…it
helps a lot and I actually feel like I’m learning
- Barbara*
When I started college, I was really skeptical about
being smart enough to do business. And everybody in
TRiO never doubted the fact that, yes, you can do this
- Jennifer*
Resources
There's a lot of resources… I never had a question
that went unanswered… Or needed help with
something and didn’t it get that help… if I speak to
one person, they don't have the answer then I’ll go get
it from someone else…They’re very helpful
- Waffle*
TRiO gave me information about scholarships
- Marco*
There's a lot of options for tutoring…if you just use
those, it's pretty easy to be successful and achieve
your goal of graduating
- Flower*
*All names have been changed
You know what I like about TRIO the most, is those
reminders. It feels like they actually care
- T-Mobile*
I went to a relatively small high school, so the
counselors and the teachers they would do a lot more
for you than the bare minimum. They would really go
above and beyond for you. I get that same sense out
of the TRiO office
- Marco*
I always say how helpful [TRiO is] and how grateful I
am that they’re here
- Jennifer*
They definitely make sure that they're there for you
- Spork*
Strategies of Perseverance
I found out about a lot of these resources and
strategies through failure. That’s how I discovered
some of these things but sometimes you have to have
a little failure to get success
- Red*
Making yourself better…challenging yourself.
Challenge yourself in classes and not just taking a
bunch of easy classes that you already know
everything…and then also try to join…clubs you have
on campus.
- Barbara*