Sonoma State University announced back in August that the University would be receiving over $4 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Education for Sonoma State’s Academic Talent Search program, which focuses on assisting low-income and first-generation students preparing for college.

The University released a statement on Aug. 25, which provided further details on said grants: “By way of two federal Talent Search grants lasting five years, totaling $4,129,412, Sonoma State’s Academic Talent Search program will continue to identify and assist middle and high school students who have the potential to succeed in higher education. At least two-thirds of the students in each local Talent Search program are from low-income economic backgrounds and families in which neither parent has a bachelor’s degree.”   

The statement also included a quote from SSU’s Senior Director of Pre-Collegiate Programs, Susan Wandling, in which she emphasized that these types of grants from the Department of Education, “confirms that we are doing a good job helping our students prepare for and enroll in a college of their choice and that we have a solid plan to reach and serve eligible students with high-impact services.”  

SSU’s Academic Talent Search program is just one of the Department of Education’s Federal TRIO Programs.

According to the Department’s website, “The Federal TRIO Programs (TRIO) are Federal outreach and student services programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. TRIO includes eight programs targeted to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to postbaccalaureate programs. TRIO also includes a training program for directors and staff of TRIO projects.”

SSU’s Pre-Collegiate Programs house seven Upward Bound programs and two Talent Search programs, both being original Department of Education TRIO programs.   

Serving as community access to higher education, “All of us in Pre-Collegiate Programs, a strong network of educational equity professionals, aim to provide information and services to families in SSU’s local communities to prepare K-12 students for college success,” reads the SSU Pre-Collegiate Programs webpage.

The Department of Education began the Talent Search program in 1965 and since then, 80% of participants have been reported to have enrolled in postsecondary institutions right after graduating high school. According to the Department’s statistics, in 2020, over 309,000 students were enrolled in 473 Talent Search Trio programs in the U.S.

Since 1990, SSU’s Academic Talent Search program has helped around 4,035 students enroll in postsecondary institutions.

Academic Talent Search Sonoma begins working with students as early as sixth grade and continues to provide them with programs and services, throughout middle and high school, that will help them better prepare for and succeed in college.

According to their webpage, “Academic Talent Search (ATS) is dedicated to assisting students to achieve their academic best and to maximize their choices by exposing them to information they may not have otherwise encountered. We aim to provide our students with tools that will help them overcome barriers, which could prevent them from attending the university of their choice upon graduation from high school.”