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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 31, 2025

Federal grant will boost student retention and graduation at Mountain Gateway Community College

Mountain Gateway Community College has been awarded awarded $1.7 million to support first-generation, low-income, and students with disabilities through TRIO Student Support Services

Clifton Forge, VA – The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Mountain Gateway Community College a federal TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) grant totaling $1.7 million to improve college retention and graduation rates among low-income, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.

This award marks the continuation of more than 40 years of TRIO SSS services on our campus. The program serves more than 240 students per year, helping them stay in school, earn degrees, and build meaningful careers.

Through individualized services including academic tutoring, financial aid, scholarship guidance, career exploration, personal and academic counseling, and mentoring, TRIO SSS empowers students to overcome barriers to success. These comprehensive supports make it significantly more likely that students will complete their degree or successfully transfer, with the lowest possible debt.

“This grant allows Mountain Gateway to continue opening doors for students who might otherwise face significant barriers to completing college,” said Dr. John Rainone, President of MGCC. “We are proud to support first-generation, low-income, and disabled students with personalized guidance, mentorship, and resources that make their academic goals achievable. TRIO Student Support Services is a cornerstone of that mission.”

Nationally, the SSS program has a proven track record. According to a rigorous 2019 evaluation by the U.S. Department of Education, students in SSS at two-year institutions were 48% more likely to earn an associate’s degree or transfer to a four-year school, and students at four-year institutions were 18% more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree compared to similar peers not in the program.

“TRIO programs generally and TRIO SSS, in particular, transforms students from the least resourced backgrounds into college graduates,” said Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, D.C. “This vital program makes all the difference for nearly a million students each year across the country.”

SSS is one of eight federal TRIO programs funded under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove social, academic, and cultural barriers to higher education. Since its inception in 1968, SSS has helped millions of low-income, first-generation students graduate from college and contribute to their communities and the economy. Notable alumni of the TRIO Student Support Services program include Michael Cashman, Town Supervisor of Plattsburgh, NY; former NASA astronaut José Hernández; and Cheryl Johnson, 36th Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

For more information about TRIO Student Support Services at Mountain Gateway Community College, please visit https://www.mgcc.edu/achievement-center or contact Carol Conner, Retention Specialist and TRIO SSS Tutor Coordinator, at chconner@mgcc.edu.

About the Federal TRIO Programs

TRIO programs (Talent Search, Upward Bound, Upward Bound Math-Science, Veterans Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Centers, and the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program) help students overcome academic, economic, and social barriers to higher education. TRIO services include assistance in choosing a college and tutoring; personal, financial, and career counseling; assistance in applying to college; workplace and college visits; special instruction in reading, writing, study skills, and mathematics; assistance in applying for financial aid; and academic assistance in high school or assistance to reenter high school or college.

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This initiative is 100% supported by a federal U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) award made to Dabney S. Lancaster Community College by the pass-through entity, Virginia Community College System. The total program cost for this initiative is $47,000.