PCC’s TRiO Educational Talent Search Program Gets 5-year Funding

August 16, 2011

Tucson, AZ -- The U.S. Department of Education has approved Pima Community College’s Educational Talent Search (ETS) program for $1,971,197 in federal TRiO Program funding for the next five years.

PCC’s ETS started in 1987. It is based at Desert Vista Campus, 5901 S. Calle Santa Cruz. Each year it serves more than 900 ninth through 12th graders at Desert View and Sunnyside high schools (in Sunnyside Unified School District) and Pueblo High Magnet School (Tucson Unified School District).

ETS provides students with tutoring, counseling, career exploration activities, college field trips and other tools, the project encourages low-income and first-generation college students to complete high school and enroll in college. The goal is to prepare students for the rigorous academic expectations of college and to increase the number of students who enroll in college. The new funding for PCC’s ETS program runs from Sept. 1, 2011, to Aug. 31, 2016.

To be eligible for selection into ETS, a student must: be a U.S. Citizen or Registered Permanent Resident; be at least 14 years old and in ninth through 12th grade; commit to remain in ETS through high school graduation; demonstrate a desire to attend college; and maintain a 2.5 or better grade point average.

For more information about ETS, call 520-206-5046.

PCC hosts two other TRiO programs: Upward Bound (Downtown, Desert Vista, East and Northwest campuses) and Student Support Services, which has two projects: Graduation, Retention, Academic Standing and Transfer (GReAT, at Desert Vista Campus); and Student Opportunities for Achievement and Retention (SOAR, at East Campus).

For more on all of the TRiO programs at PCC, go to Programs for Kids and Teens. For more on the federal TRiO programs, go to www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio.

CONTACT:
Paul Schwalbach, Marketing and Public Relations Manager,
(520) 206-4850