HCC Awarded $1.8 Million To Help More Students Succeed, Graduate

Tampa FL

17 August, 2020

9:01 PM

Description

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — The U.S. Department of Education announced that Hillsborough Community College will receive a federal Student Support Services grant of $1,891,185 to help more students succeed in and graduate from college. This amount represents an increase of $64,000 for the grant period 2020-24. HCC received its first TRIO SSS grant in 1974. For 46 years, the program has served more than 8,000 students and boasts a high graduation rate. Over the last five years, student participants were awarded $352,938 in scholarships. 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. Many Student Support Services alumni have gone on to success, among them Emmy-, Tony- and Academy-Award-winning actress Viola Davis, U.S. Rep. Gwendolyn Moore of Wisconsin's 4th District and Franklin Chang-Diaz, the first Hispanic astronaut. 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 it helps students with disabilities remove obstacles preventing them from thriving academically. This press release was produced by the Hillsborough Community College. The views expressed are the author's own.