Holmes awarded TRIO Grant

Holmes awarded TRIO Grant The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that Holmes Community College will receive a federal Student Support Services (SSS) grant of $337,287 per year to help more students succeed in and graduate from college. 

Student Support Services has been an essential program at Holmes Community College for over 40 years. During the last grant cycle our average retention, graduation and transfer rates far surpassed the national average for community and senior colleges. 

SSS assists college students who are first generation (those whose parents do not have a four-year college degree), meet taxable income guidelines or students with disabilities. The array of services the grant will provide are comprehensive and will include: academic coaching (tutoring), transfer assistance, academic, personal and financial aid counseling, financial/economic literacy, cultural activities, career exploration/job shadowing, peer mentoring and advocacy. Some of these services are designed to enhance academic success, graduation and transfer, while others are geared toward minimizing student debt. 

Many of the Holmes SSS alumni have gone on to be lawyers, engineers, an ESPN reporter, a CEO, nurses, managers, counselors, coaches, teachers, principals, etc. In fact, one of SSS’ local alums is Dr. Jakarla Jordan, a licensed professional counselor in Durant.  

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 first-generation and/or 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.

Linda Alexander-Jones, Director of Student Support Services stated, “As a department we feel truly blessed to have the opportunity for another five years of working with some wonderful students. We are all huggers in SSS so this fall will be a difficult adjustment for us!”

“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, the president of the Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington D.C.

The Student Support Services program has made important contributions to individuals and society as a whole by providing a broad range of services to help students succeed. For more than 50 years, SSS has helped students matriculate through the academic pipeline and obtain a college degree.

For more information about Student Support Services at Holmes, please contact Linda Alexander-Jones at lalexander@holmescc.edu or call (662) 472-9002.