About the Award
Application Deadline
April 4, 2025
What is the Award?
TRIO Rising Scholars (TRS) is a federally-funded program that allows the use of program funds to award money to Pell grant students: eligible applicants must be Pell grant recipients of any amount for the current academic year. In an effort to foster TRIO community and involvement, we like to reward students who have been engaged in the program in a variety of ways. Thus, this is both a needs-based award (financial) and a merit-based award (TRIO engagement).
What does TRIO Engagement mean?
We are looking for students who show that they care about being a member of our TRIO community. You don’t have attend every event, but it’s about being engaged when you are here, such as actively listening/asking questions, being prepared for appointments, getting to know other TRIO students, etc. Here are some examples of engagement:
- Attendance at the required Fall Orientation and Spring Welcome
- Someone who is prepared and meets regularly with their Educational Specialist, Peer Mentor, or Program Coordinator.
- Attendance at a variety of events held throughout Fall and Spring semesters
- Someone who, at a minimum, is meeting all of the expectations as outlined in our Enrollment Agreement & Community Contract.
Who is Eligible?
- Students enrolled in TRS who are currently receiving Federal Pell Grant money as part of their Boise State financial aid package.
- Students who started with TRS in the 2024 Fall semester and are in their first two years as a Boise State student. We will be prioritizing applicants who are on track to meet the minimum requirements of a first-year student in TRS as outlined in the Enrollment Agreement and Community Contract.
- Students who are in good academic standing with at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA.
- Students who started with TRS in previous semesters will also be considered based on overall engagement and need.
What is the intention?
It is our expectation that you will use this money toward any overall costs associated with your enrollment at Boise State. We hope that this award will allow you to have greater financial flexibility and less financial burden in the pursuit of your college degree. Overall costs vary and may include existing student debt, tuition, student fees, books and supplies, housing, meals, transportation, parking, technology, etc.
TRS Community Engagement Award Application
Please respond to the following questions in essay form. Keep in mind that this is a competitive process and ensure that your responses are well thought out and address the prompts completely. Note that there is a 250 word limit for each response, which is about the length of a half-page document, single-spaced.