Ocean County College OceanViews Magazine 2026 Winter Volume 19 Issue 02 - Flipbook - Page 6
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TRIO EXPANDS
to Serve More Students
With TRIO programs nationwide facing an
uncertain future, OCC’s Student Support
Services team is pleased to be positioned
for growth.
“Programs are being cut left and right,”
says program director Dr. Alison Noone,
“but at OCC, we’ve been lucky.”
TRIO is a federally funded initiative that
helps first-generation and low-income
students navigate the path to graduation. OCC’s program has been renewed
until 2030 and was just awarded a second
$1.3M grant, specifically designed to support students with disabilities. The new
funding will allow TRIO to serve an additional 100 students.
TRIO targets three overlapping populations – first-generation college students,
income-eligible students, and students
with disabilities – that often face unique
barriers to academic success. The program’s approach is straightforward: identify obstacles, find solutions, and most
importantly, meet the students where
they are.
“We get to know them, help them develop
an academic plan,” Noone says. This
includes providing individualized academic advising and tutoring, and checking in with students throughout the day to
help them adjust their schedules, switch
6 Winter 2026
classes when needed, even change their
majors as they discover their paths.
“College is a life shift,” Noone says. “We
help them with building routines, time
management, career assessments, financial literacy, college pathways – whatever
they need.” The staff also organizes handson learning experiences and field trips,
which may be entirely new experiences for
the students. “Some students have never
been to a museum,” Noone notes. “Some
have never left their town or state.”
Despite its small size – six staff members
and three tutors serve as many as 300
high-needs students – the TRIO program
at OCC consistently exceeds performance
objectives. Federal requirements mandate that 75% of participants persist in
their studies, but OCC’s program achieves
90 to 92% good academic standing year
over year, remarkable considering the
students must demonstrate academic
need to qualify. “If you take advantage of
our services, you will do well,” Noone says.
The numbers bear this out: 39% of TRIO
students graduate within four years, and
25% transfer to four-year universities.
As the program prepares to launch its
expanded services for students with disabilities, the TRIO team remains focused
on their core mission: helping students
stand on their own. “We’ve seen so much
growth,” Noone says proudly. “Our students are learning to do things on their
own. That’s exactly what we want to see.”
