WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold announced today that 22 colleges and universities throughout Wisconsin have been awarded TRIO Student Support Services grants totaling $7,337,627, offering first generation, low income and disabled students access to programs that will help them succeed in college.  Kohl and Feingold are longtime supporters of the U.S. Department of Education's TRIO program, which funds the grants, and worked with the Department on behalf of Wisconsin colleges and universities to secure the federal funding. Senator Kohl called and wrote to the Department of Education on behalf of the applicants.              

"The Student Support Services Program is a tool that offers access and opportunity to first generation, low income, and disabled students," Kohl said. "Through individualized tutoring and mentoring, the Student Support Services program assists students with the demands of college level work with the goal to increase student retention and help them receive the diploma they are working hard to obtain."  

"The students who are served by this important program are often the first of their family with a chance at a college degree," said Feingold, who asked Senate appropriators earlier this year to increase funding to the TRIO program. "Helping these students obtain a college degree will improve their lives and the lives of their families as well as the many Wisconsin communities where these students will live and work."              

According to the Department of Education, all SSS projects must provide academic tutoring; guidance in course selection; assistance with financial aid programs and scholarships; financial and economic literacy counseling; help with admission to graduate and professional programs; and enrollment assistance for students transitioning from two-­year institutions to four­-year programs.  

Kohl serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee with jurisdiction over education funding.  Each year, he has requested funding for the TRIO programs as part of the legislation that funds the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill.  

The 22 schools receiving federal funding include:  

Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa CC - $293,746
University of Wisconsin - Superior - $301,692
Gateway Technical College (Kenosha, Racine and Elkhorn Campuses) - $219,957
Viterbo University – $304,280
University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire – $610,620
Ripon College – $252,071
University of Wisconsin - Stout – $576,841
University of Wisconsin – Madison - $301,692
Marquette University - $747,297
Lakeshore Technical College - $220,000
University of Wisconsin – La Crosse - $389,872
University of Wisconsin – Platteville – $377,817
University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh - $397,972
University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee - $316,026
Marian University - $220,000
Moraine Park Technical College (Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac and West Bend Campuses) – $220,000
Milwaukee School of Engineering - $255,505
University of Wisconsin – Parkside - $300,038
Madison Area Technical College - $219,996
University of Wisconsin – River Falls - $301,689
Beloit College - $290,516
Mount Mary College - $220,000