SANFORD - Central Carolina Community College has received two TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) grants totaling nearly $2.2 million over the next five years from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education.

Each year, Student Support Services will serve a target population of 260 first-generation and low-income students and students with disabilities who are currently enrolled at Central Carolina. The goal of Student Support Services is to increase the college retention and graduation rates of its participants.

One of the grants will serve students in all academic programs, and the other grant will serve students in Central Carolina's Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Health Sciences programs.

Student Support Services is one of eight federal TRiO programs started in the mid-1960s out of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. Student Support Services was the third TRiO program to be created, and started nationally in 1968. Currently, there are over 1,000 Student Support Services programs nationwide serving nearly 300 million college students in pursuit of a postsecondary degree.

"We are excited that Central Carolina received these two grants. They tie directly into our top institutional goals of putting learning first while maximizing levels of college access and success," said Dr. Brian S. Merritt, CCCC Vice President of Student Learning and Chief Academic Officer. "We always strive to engage students as full partners in the learning process, and this funding provides us with an opportunity to further strengthen the academic coaching, tutoring, and additional assistance for students who need it most."

• Services provided by the program include:
• Tutoring and supplemental instruction.
• Academic coaching, including assistance with course selection and ongoing support for academic success.
• Financial aid assistance and financial literacy education.
• Assistance with transfer to four-year colleges.
• Individualized personal, career, and academic counseling.
• Cultural and educational enrichment activities.
• Mentoring.
• Special assistance for students with disabilities.
• Awarding of up to $10,000 of Student Support Services grant aid annually to selected participants.

Interested Central Carolina Community College students are encouraged to apply to participate in the program by picking up an application at the TRiO offices in Hockaday Hall on the Lee County Campus, sending an email to sss@cccc.edu., or by accessing the application online at www.cccc.edu/sss.

"We are thrilled to have this opportunity to support the educational success of CCCC students by implementing a new TRiO program on our campuses," said Ashley Tittemore, CCCC Director of TRiO programs. "These grant funds will support the college's values of learning, access, and success, and allow CCCC and TRiO Programs to make a significant positive impact on the academic achievement, retention, and graduation of thousands of students in the future."

CCCC's Student Support Services programs will operate alongside the college's two other TRiO Programs, Upward Bound Math and Science and Veterans Upward Bound, in the division of Student Learning.

For more information on CCCC's Student Support Services program, visit the website www.cccc.edu/sss. Interested students can contact SSS program officials by email at sss@cccc.edu..

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Central Carolina Community College will be able to assist even more students thanks to the receipt of two TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) grants totaling nearly $2.2 million over the next five years from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education.