NORFOLK, Neb. -- Northeast Community College has been helping students get the most out of their college experience with the use of the TRIO College Success Program since 2015. 

TRIO is an academic assistance program geared to providing services to students who are first-generation college students, income eligible, and/or have a disability. 

Director Josh Becker said the program offers personal success coaching, community building, intensive advising at least three times a semester, and more.

"So that intensive advising, having that relationship with an advisor someone they know they can go to whenever they have questions, whenever they have concerns," said Becker. "We also have free technology for our students, so we can get every single one of our students a free laptop, iPad, voice recorders, certain kinds of software for the computer, headphones, calculators, things that can help them out in the classroom."

The TRIO Program provides these services to students free of charge as Northeast Community College applies for a federal grant which supports this program for five years to help 140 students, although through additional funding through the school, they're able to support more. 

The funds are provided federally by the U.S. Department of Education through the TRIO grant, and the college will need to resubmit an application after its five-year cycle comes to an end.

The additional funds support an extra 50 students as the program is extremely competitive to enter with twice as many applicants. 

Becker said that even though the program helps with school, they are also working to make sure that it gives them tools to succeed in life.   

"And we've recently partnered with Calm Water Financial here in town which offers our students free financial services for the entirety of the time that they're here in the TRIO Northeast program," said Becker. "It's tough sometimes to convince an 18-year-old that they need financial advice, and they need to be looking into the future, not just a year from now but 10 and 20 years from now in terms of their finances, and maybe investments, and savings." 

Becker said students in TRIO show huge progress in their schooling within each semester of the program and said at least three members of his staff are former TRIO students.