MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — In fulfilling its mission to help the state increase the number of residents with college degrees and advanced education, Middle Tennessee State University offers a series of federal programs designed to help first-generation and other eligible students advance from high school through college.

Student Support Services and Upward Bound are two of eight Federal TRIO Programs headed by the U.S. Department of Education that provide academic support services to first-generation college students, low-income individuals, and individuals with disabilities in high school and college.

According to the Council for Opportunity in Education, the TRIO community introduced the concept of the “first-generation college student” and requires that two-thirds of the students receiving TRIO services be first-generation and low-income. Other eligibility criteria include having disabilities and an academic need.

Student Support Services

MTSU’s Student Support Services, also called SSS, aims to increase the college retention and graduation rates of its participants. SSS has helped more than 800 students complete their bachelor’s degrees since it launched at MTSU in 2000.

“We know what’s going on with our students in a holistic approach,” said Melissa Towe, director of Student Support Services. “We act as accountability partners to our students because we have a goal that we have to reach, and that is graduation.”

As a part of its mission, SSS empowers students to learn and succeed in college and life by offering many free services, including personal support, academic counseling, tutoring, workshops and cultural events.

“If not for MTSU’s SSS program, I would not have made it past my freshman year, much less be the first in my family to hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree,” said Alissa Belton, academic counselor of TRIO Student Support Services, and MTSU SSS alumna.

Last year, almost 60% of students who participated in the SSS program at MTSU were students of color.

Based on a recent report from the Center for First-Generation Student Success, first-generation college students make up 50% of undergraduates in the U.S. and represent the following undergraduate population:

• 73% Hispanic and Latinx/a/o.
• 65% Black/African American.
• 64% American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian/or other Pacific Islander.

Belton, who attended the Policy Seminar in Washington D.C. in early March, met with the office of Congressman Scott DesJarlais to advocate for continued and increased funding of $66 million for TRIO programs that would provide more extensive services to eligible MTSU students.

“My hope each time I attend the Policy Seminar is to share my TRIO story and to learn new materials to assist my students better,” said Belton. “Our national motto and hashtag are #TRIOworks and nothing could sum up TRIO’s impact better.”

MTSU’s Student Support Services is located inside the Keathley University Center, Room 308, at 1524 Military Memorial. For more information, contact ssupport@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-5443.

Upward Bound program

Housed in the Office of Student Success, MTSU’s Upward Bound program launched in 2022 and serves Community, LaVergne, Shelbyville Central and Smyrna high schools in Tennessee’s Bedford and Rutherford County school districts.

Upward Bound is a pre-college program that offers academic support and other services to help eligible high school students graduate from high school and enroll in college.

Bionca Washington, who became the new director of MTSU’s Upward Bound program in February, has worked in various roles within TRIO for over nine years and is passionate about getting to know the students and connecting with the high schools and communities the program currently serves. 

“I was a first-generation student myself,” said Washington. “I didn’t have the knowledge. I didn’t have anyone to help me, and I don’t want students to make the same mistakes that I made.”

Each school year, 60 students take the first step toward becoming college graduates by enrolling in Upward Bound, which offers a wide range of supportive services, including study group sessions, leadership workshops, financial literacy, college admission assistance and more.

Students participating in Upward Bound are required to attend two components of the program.

From September to May, students attend a program that includes Saturday enrichment sessions offered virtually or at MTSU once a month, and during the summer, participants attend a summer academy that includes a five-week academic intensive with the option for students to live in a dorm on the MTSU campus.

“They (participants) will take classes online,” said Washington. “The required math, science, English and foreign language classes will prepare them for their next semester of high school, so they should be ahead of other students who are not a part of our program.”

Recruitment for the upcoming year is the Upward Bound teams’ priority, which involves information sessions for rising ninth graders and current high school students, social media, and word of mouth from program participants.

MTSU’s Upward Bound is located inside the Student Office of Success in Peck Hall, Room 142, at 537 Old Main Circle. For more information, contact Washington at upwardbound@mtsu.edu or call 615-494-8650.

— Johari Hamilton (Johari.HamiltonGA@mtsu.edu)