Five questions for Shubitha Kever Director of TRIO Programs, Purdue University Fort Wayne 1 Purdue University Fort Wayne for more than a decade has had in place a TRIO Student Support Services Program. In what ways does it help PFW students? TRIO programs are federal outreach and student service programs designed to help first-generation students prepare and complete college degrees. TRIO programs were authorized in the Higher Education Act of 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson as an initiative in the War on Poverty. The TRIO name refers to the original set of three programs authorized in the legislation (Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search and Student Support Services); however, today TRIO now includes a total of seven educational-opportunity programs.