The University of Notre Dame’s Talent Search program was one of nearly 900 colleges and organizations to receive a portion of nearly $135 million in grant funding to provide and promote college preparation resources for local students.
Notre Dame Talent Search will receive $430,875 annually for a total grant award of $2.15 million over the next five years – the largest in Notre Dame Talent Search history. Currently, the program serves approximately 900 intermediate and high school students, providing academic tutoring and advisement, career exploration, cultural enrichment, community service and college tours. Since its inception, Notre Dame Talent Search has served more than 25,000 students.
Talent Search, one of eight programs collectively known as the Federal TRiO Programs, provides disadvantaged youth with connections to high-quality tutoring services and counseling services for students and families to improve financial aid literacy and financial planning for postsecondary education. This year’s grant competition marked the first year of encouraging evidence-based strategies for both secondary completion and postsecondary enrollment.
TRiO director Ethan Zagore said, “Programs like Talent Search are necessary for the community. It motivates, inspires and supports the dreams of future educators, lawyers, doctors and other change agents. Our students need this. Our community needs this.”
TRiO is a set of federally funded college opportunity programs that motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in their pursuit of a college degree. Since the 1960s, Notre Dame’s TRIO programs have served first generation and low-income students from the South Bend Community School Corp.
Contact: Ethan Zagore, director, TRiO Programs Office, 574-631-9004, ezagore@nd.edu
Originally published by Notre Dame News at news.nd.edu on October 05, 2016.