Indianapolis, IN (September 2010) – IUPUI’s Student Support Services program was approved by the U.S. Department of Education, and effective September 1, 2010, was funded again for the next five years.
A TRIO program federally funded by the Department of Education (www.ed.gov), Student Support Services (SSS) is a program that provides financial and career support to select groups of IUPUI students. Due to acceptable scoring, the program will continue to provide its services to disadvantaged students.
This year Student Support Services received an additional three percent financial funding. Barbara Browning, program director, believes the additional funding to be quite an achievement since receiving funding at all can be difficult at times.
The program also obtained an additional year to continue its services, Browning said. “Because we scored so high, we had an extra year of funding.” Typically, the program is funded for up to four years, but because the program performed well another year was granted.
The Student Support Services program provides a number of services to eligible IUPUI students. Some of these services include peer mentoring, tutoring, advising, financial aid support, career advising, and scholarships and grants.
Students eligible to take advantage of the Student Support Service program are first- generation students, students from low income families, and those with disabilities. According to Browning, the students respond very well to the program and there is a long waiting list of students wanting to participate in the program.
The SSS program puts together department events each year for the students. Some examples are cultural events held each month, beginning- and end-of-the-year celebrations, and a cultural trip each year as well as helping to fund some of the students’ study abroad experiences.
IUPUI’s Student Support Services program has been operating since 1997, and students should be excited to know that the program will be staying around for at least another five years.