WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education today announced the release of a new research report, Exploring and Increasing TRIO’s Capacity for Career Development Partnerships: Report of Findings from Phase I, offering a comprehensive analysis of how Federal TRIO Programs can strengthen career readiness and economic mobility for low-income and first-generation students through strategic institutional partnerships.
Funded by Ascendium Education Group®, the Phase I study examines the current landscape of collaboration between TRIO programs and campus career centers, identifying key barriers, promising practices, and actionable strategies to expand access to high-impact career development opportunities. The report draws on a multi-method research design, including a national survey of more than 1,100 TRIO professionals, a web analysis of 1,500 institutional sites, and in-depth case studies across seven colleges and universities.
“This report arrives at a pivotal moment for higher education,” said Kimberly Jones, President of the Council for Opportunity in Education. “As national conversations increasingly shift toward return on investment and career outcomes, this research makes clear that TRIO programs are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between access and economic mobility.”
Strengthening partnerships between TRIO and career services is essential to ensuring that students from underserved backgrounds can fully participate in and benefit from today’s economy.
The findings highlight persistent inequities in access to high-impact practices such as internships and career-aligned learning experiences. Low-income and first-generation students remain significantly less likely to participate in these opportunities, despite evidence that such experiences are strongly linked to college completion and postsecondary success.
“The evidence is clear: when low-income students engage in structured career development and high-impact practices, the outcomes are transformative,” said Margaret Cahalan, Ph.D., report co-author and senior fellow at the Pell Institute. “However, our research shows there is a large gap in access to high-impact career services between the low-income students served by TRIO and more resourced higher-income students. We found a strong willingness for collaboration between TRIO and Career Centers to increase access for low-income students; however, systemic structural barriers, including a lack of institutional support, persist. There is a need for developing services embedded in the curriculum and customized to the needs of low-income and first-generation students. This report provides a roadmap for how institutions can close that gap. “The report also situates TRIO within a broader national and global context, noting a growing emphasis on workforce alignment, rising student debt, and increasing concerns about underemployment among college graduates. These dynamics underscore the urgency of embedding career development directly into TRIO programming rather than treating it as a supplemental service.
“Our goal in Phase I was to understand what is happening on the ground and what is possible,” said Joan Becker, report co-author and former Vice Provost, UMass Boston. “We found that when institutions intentionally align TRIO services with career development infrastructure, students gain access to networks, experiences, and competencies that are critical for long-term success. The challenge now is scaling these partnerships in a way that is sustainable and equitable.”
Among its key findings, the report identifies several critical success factors for effective collaboration, including leadership commitment, shared data systems, intentional relationship-building, and a student-centered equity framework. It also emphasizes the importance of embedding career readiness into the core mission of TRIO programs to ensure that students are prepared not only to access higher education but to thrive in the workforce.
The Phase I findings will inform the development of a forthcoming Phase II pilot initiative designed to test scalable models of TRIO–career center partnerships nationwide.
The full report is available at pellinstitute.org.
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