Trio New College Network

Today, a college education represents the main path to the American middle class - bringing with it increased economic opportunity, improved health and well-being outcomes, and stronger civic engagement. Yet, our current higher education system does not work for many individuals. For generations, the traditional system has systematically excluded many first-generation, working-adult, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous people from access to essential educational opportunities. Millions of individuals across the country never start college or worse, start and then leave college without a degree, resulting in low-wage employment and high levels of debt - all because our current higher education system is not designed to help them succeed. At Trio, we are working to reinvent the higher education experience, both for the students who have been most significantly excluded from traditional higher education, and for any and all students who could benefit from a lower-cost, more flexible, more effective degree program and career onramp.