LIVONIA, MICH. – The U.S. Department of Education announced that Madonna University's Grant proposal was selected to receive a federal STudent Support Services (SSS) grant of $1.2 million over five years to help more students succeed in and graduate from college.
“We are elated to receive this vital funding to students with incredible potential to change lives," said Connie Tingson-Gatuz, Ph.D., vice president for student affairs and mission integration. "Closely aligned with our Madonna mission and core values, this funding enables us to continue to support first-generation, low income, and students with disabilities for the next five years.”
SSS helps college students who are low income, first generation (those whose parents do not have a four-year college degree) or students with disabilities. The array of services the grant will provide are comprehensive and will include academic tutoring, financial aid advice, career and college mentoring, help in choosing courses, and other forms of assistance. Such services enhance academic success and make it more likely that students will graduate or transfer with the lowest possible debt.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the systemic inequality and financial hardship which keep promising students from succeeding in college. Student Support Services is needed now more than ever,” said Maureen Hoyler, president of Council for Opportunity in Education. The Washington D.C. nonprofit is dedicated to furthering the expansion of college opportunities for low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.
SSS began in 1968 and is one of the eight federal “TRIO” programs authorized by the Higher Education Act to help college students succeed in higher education. It recognizes that students whose parents do not have a college degree have more difficulties navigating the complexity of decisions that college requires for success; it bolsters students from low income families who have not had the academic opportunities that their college peers have had, and helps students with disabilities remove obstacles preventing them from thriving academically.
Madonna University’s TRIO program has received Federal SSS funding for the past 42 years, in order to assist low-income and first-generation students, and those with disabilities to succeed in their educational pursuits. Madonna TRIO graduates are using their degrees to change the lives of others.
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