Grant renewed for Northwest’s Upward Bound
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Rock Port High School junior and Upward Bound participant Preston Jones attaches a set of experimental blades to a tabletop wind turbine Wednesday morning in the Garrett-Strong Science Building at Northwest Missouri State University. Established in 1986, Northwest’s Upward Program, administered through the university’s TRIO office, has been refunded by the U.S. Department of Education for another five years.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The U.S. Department of Education has renewed a grant used by Northwest Missouri State University’s TRIO office to fund its Upward Bound program.
Structured to support the college preparation program for lower-income youth over the next five years, the grant will provide $368,829 annually through 2022, a total of $1.84 million.
Northwest Trio Director Cassie Tavorn said changes in the grant application process under new U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made securing the grant a much more challenging process than in the past. She added that 70 similar programs nationwide were defunded.
“We made sure we dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t,’” she said.
Tavorn added that much of the added complexity was due to mandated formatting criteria, which made it difficult for applicants to describe the full scope of their activities in a manner that was easy to interpret and analyze.
The release stated a that “a flurry of letters and calls from lawmakers and their constituents, along with TRIO personnel” may have helped convince DeVos to issue a departmentwide order prohibiting mandatory page and formatting rules in future grant competitions and ordering rejected grants to be reviewed.
Tavorn defended Upward Bound as an effective pre-college program that “assists its students in embracing more intensive academic performance habits to help their transition to post-secondary education.”
She added: “This funding makes a very real and positive difference in the lives of our future decision-makers.”
Intended to serve lower-income teenagers in grades 9-12, Upward Bound provides academic, social and cultural support designed to encourage young people to finish high school and move on to post-secondary education.
The program at Northwest began in 1986 and serves selected schools in Atchison, Gentry and Nodaway counties. Participants receive educational assistance during the school year through Saturday academies, college visits and service activities.
Additionally, the initiative hosts a six-week campus residential program during the summer, which is currently underway.
Besides Upward Bound, Northwest’s TRIO office administers Student Support Services and Upward Bound Math and Science. All three programs have the stated goal of helping students “overcome class, social and cultural academic barriers to accessing and succeeding in higher education.”
Student Services is geared toward young adults who have begun their university careers and provides academic support in such areas as reading, writing, mathematics, time management, test taking and motivation.
TRIO was founded in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity Act signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.
Today, more than 1,000 colleges, universities and community entities host more than 2,700 TRIO programs serving nearly 800,000 students nationwide.
The Northwest TRIO website is located at www.nwmissouri.edu/trio.
