Media Release
September 19, 2020
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) was recently awarded a $261,888 grant from the United States Department of Education for the TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program. The project is intended to provide academic and other related support services for low-income, first-generation or disabled college students to increase retention and graduation rates, facilitate transfers from two-year to four-year colleges and universities, and to foster an institutional climate supportive of their success. The grant is expected to renew for four additional years following the initial yearlong budget period, totaling $1,309,440 over five years.
FSCJ’s TRiO SSS-STEM is part of a larger network of TRiO programs, whose objective is to expand educational access and opportunity in higher education. Areas of study include Health Sciences, Information Technology, Engineering Technology/Advanced Manufacturing, Biotechnology and other STEM-related programs. Participants can pursue STEM certificate programs, STEM Associate in Science degree programs and the Associate in Arts degree, leading to STEM and pre-med programs. While financial aid programs help students overcome financial barriers to education, TRiO helps students overcome other obstacles, whether social or cultural, through academic/career/personal advising, tutoring, mentorship, and various other hard and soft-skill development initiatives.
“FSCJ’s TRiO program has been a valuable asset for our College and the many student participants over the past 10-plus years,” said FSCJ President John Avendano, Ph.D. “With this additional funding from the U.S. Department of Education, we will now be better positioned to recruit and retain even more students who could benefit from this added layer of support to progress through their pursuit of a postsecondary degree in STEM.”
About FSCJ
Known as “the community’s college,” Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) exists to provide valuable, high-quality learning opportunities to anyone with the desire to enhance themselves through the pursuit of higher education. Serving more than 45,000 students and awarding more than 8,000 degrees and certificates on an annual basis, the College plays a significant role in supplying the region’s employers with a highly skilled, educated workforce.