Bunker Hill Community College Receives Major Grant to Help Low-Income Students

BOSTON, Aug. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bunker Hill Community College will receive a $276,608 federal TRIO grant to help low-income students, first-generation college students and people with disabilities attend college, BHCC President Mary L. Fifield announced this week.  With the support of U.S. Senator John F. Kerry, Jr., twenty Massachusetts colleges received $6 million in federal TRIO funding.

"The TRIO programs have been terrific for Massachusetts students who have the drive and the dream of attending college," Kerry said this month in announcing the grants for Massachusetts colleges.  "I'm very grateful to TRIO for providing opportunity to students who might otherwise never have gotten a shot at the quality education they deserve."

The name "TRIO" arose from the three original federal programs, Student Support Services, Upward Bound and Talent Search, funded as part of the U.S. Higher Education Act of 1965.  This is the fifth five-year TRIO grant BHCC has received to fund its Student Success Program.

In the 2009-2010 academic year, the BHCC Success Program provided tutoring, mentoring, and workshops on a range of topics such as financial literacy skills for 175 students, according to Student Success Program Director Margaret Bovill-Hawkins.

"The TRIO funding allows us to work with students one-on-one to ensure their academic success," Bovill-Hawkins said.  "The grant renewal enables the College to continue to provide support for students in this program."

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 11,700 students on two campuses and at four satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls more than 700 international students who come from more than 90 countries and speak 75 different languages.

SOURCE Bunker Hill Community College