UAB has been awarded a new TRIO grant for an Educational Opportunity Center that will provide free community-based education services to disadvantaged adults looking to pursue their GED completion or continued education.The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the University of Alabama at Birmingham a five-year, $1.1 million grant to establish a new TRIO Educational Opportunity Center to provide free community-based education services to adults interested in pursuing continued and higher education.
The EOC program, led by UAB staff, aims to eliminate barriers in obtaining a GED or entering college for vulnerable and/or limited-income people. To bridge access gaps and meet people where they are, UAB will partner with different community and faith-based agencies to provide the resources and access points needed to pursue further education. Within these partnerships, EOC staff will identify and provide up to 850 eligible participants with resources including:
- Referrals to GED and other adult basic education classes
- Assistance with the college, trade/vocational school admissions process
- Test preparation workshops
- Assistance with completing the FAFSA
- Career exploration and goal setting
- Tutoring and mentoring
- Personal counseling (life coaches)
- Scholarship information
- Referrals to public assistance and other community resources
- Veteran workshops on benefits
- Limited fee payment assistance for required tests
“UAB has an opportunity to increase the social mobility of adults and change the trajectory of families with this program,” said Tracy Lyons, Ph.D., principal investigator of the grant and executive director of Undergraduate Student Success and Retention. “Many times, adult learners are discounted; but EOC is a program of second chances. This is a truly altruistic initiative that I’m proud UAB gets to be a part of.”
The EOC grant is a part of TRIO, a set of federal programs designed to help limited-income and first-generation students with access and success in higher education. Programs begin as early as grade school and assist eligible students through grad school. This will be the seventh TRIO program at UAB but the first time we have received a grant targeted at this population set.
“This award will allow UAB to continue to connect Birmingham residents with opportunities, but in a new way,” said Emily Wykle, director of External Affairs in the UAB Office of the President. “We know that education is the great equalizer, and our EOC team will be on the ground with nonprofits and faith-based organizations across Jefferson County to ensure that everyone who wants a degree has a path to get there. This is consistent with our mission to engage with the community in ways that contribute to the public good.”