U . S . D e pa r t m e n t o f du c at i 

Background

The Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) 

program is one of the federal TRIO programs, 

a group of eight outreach programs funded 

by the U.S. Department of Education that 

are designed to support and assist students 

from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress 

through the academic pipeline from middle 

school to attainment of a postbaccalaureate 

degree.

The EOC program provides counseling and 

information on college admissions to qualified 

adults who want to enter or continue a program 

of postsecondary education. An important 

objective of the program is to counsel 

participants on financial aid options and to 

assist in the application process. While the 

primary goal of the EOC program is to increase 

the number of adult participants who enroll in 

institutions of postsecondary education, EOC 

grantees may also serve postsecondary students 

and, under some circumstances, individuals 

younger than 19. EOC thus serves a wider 

age range of individuals than do most other 

TRIO programs.

In the past, the EOC program has funded 

projects through grant competitions held every 

four years; the program completed one grant 

cycle with the 2005–06 academic year and 

began a new cycle with the 2006–07 academic 

year. Although most grantees received fouryear awards, the applicants whose peer review 

scores were in the top 10 percent received fiveyear awards, so there is some overlap between 

Contents

1 Background

2 Program Funding

2 Outcomes

4 Participants

6 Target Schools

grant cycles. (Under the Higher Education 

Opportunity Act, signed into law in 2008, in the 

future EOC and six other TRIO programs 

will award all grants for five-year periods and 

will therefore hold competitions every five 

years.) As appropriate, this report will examine 

program characteristics and outcomes at up 

to four points: the first year of the previous 

grant cycle (2002–03), the last year of the 

previous grant cycle (2005–06), the first year 

of the current cycle (2006–07), and the most 

recent year for which data is currently available 

(2007–08).

Every year, the grantee for each funded project 

is required to submit an Annual Performance 

Report (APR) that includes data about the 

participants served and the status of those 

participants at the end of the reporting 

period. Reporting periods correspond to 

academic years, and for most grantees run from 

September through the following August. For 

the EOC program, grantees report the total 

number of participants that fit into a number 

of different categories, rather than the status 

of each individual participant. The APR was 

redesigned for the new grant cycle (beginning 

in 2006–07) and reflects the standard objectives 

introduced in the FY 2006 competition; these 

objectives concern enrollment in continuing 

education, application for postsecondary 

admission and financial aid, and, most 

important, postsecondary enrollment. The 

APR also incorporates improved consistency 

checks designed to reduce data entry errors.

A Report on the Educational 

Opportunity Centers Program

2007–08, With Select Comparative Data, 2002–07
Report on the Educational Opportunity Centers Program: 2007–08, With Select Comparative Data, 2002–07

2

Program Funding 

Table 1 shows the major funding characteristics of the EOC 

program: number of grantees, number of participants that 

the project was funded to serve and actually served, and 

program funding, along with the mean funding per project, 

mean participants served per project, and mean spending per 

participant served. 2002–03 reflected a significant increase in 

the program’s grantees, from 82 in the 1998–2002 cycle to 139 

in the 2002–06 cycle. Slightly fewer participants were actually 

served in 2002–03 than the projects were funded to serve; as 

the 57 new projects gained experience in providing program 

services, in each subsequent year the number of participants 

served increased beyond the number funded to serve. In the 

2006 competition, the program did not make any completely 

new awards; thus, in 2006–07, the number of participants 

served continued to exceed the number of participants the 

projects had been funded to serve.

Table 1. EOC program funding characteristics, by reporting year: 2002–03, 2005–06, 2006–07, 

and 2007–08

Reporting year

2002–03 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08

Program funding characteristics

 Projects funded 139 139 135 125

Total program funding $48,011,331 $48,971,567 $47,726,296 $47,006,891

Mean funding per project $345,405 $352,313 $353,528 $376,055

Total participants funded to serve 217,836 217,565 205,815 195,795

Total participants served 214,684 219,974 209,179 202,039

Mean spending per participant served $224 $223 $228 $233

Mean participants served per project 1,544 1,583 1,549 1,616

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO Programs, Educational Opportunity Centers performance reports, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2006–07, and 

2007–08.

NOTE: Table reflects two four-year funding cycles in EOC: 2002–06 and 2006–10. Fourteen projects funded in the 2002–06 cycle did not receive grants in the 

2006 competition because they did not apply, were ineligible, or applied and were not successful. Four of these 14 grants ended at the close of the 2005–06 

reporting year; the remaining 10 ended at the close of the 2006–07 reporting year.

Outcomes

The main goal of the EOC program is to increase the number 

of adult participants who enroll in postsecondary education. 

The most direct measurement of this goal is the percentage 

of certain program participants who successfully enroll 

in programs of postsecondary education. The groups of 

participants included in the denominator for calculating the 

enrollment rate changed to some extent between the two grant 

cycles. In APRs prior to the current grant cycle, participants 

included in the calculation comprised high school graduates, 

high school equivalency graduates, and high school seniors 

and were referred to as “college-ready.” Beginning with the 

new grant cycle in 2006–07, the term “college-ready” did 

not appear in the APR, although a similar subset of program 

participants was identified that aligned with the enrollment 

objective established for the 2006 grant competition. This 

subset of participants consists of those included in the 

previous cycle plus certain categories of participants listed in 

the APR: adults without a high school diploma or equivalent 

credentials who are enrolled in a continuing education program 

at the level of a high school senior; postsecondary dropouts; 

potential postsecondary transfers; and participants not older 

than 18 years enrolled in an alternative education program at 

an academic level equivalent to a high school senior.1

Figure 1 shows rates of enrollment in postsecondary education 

by “college-ready” participants from the beginning of the 

previous grant cycle (2002–03) to the most recent year for 

which data are available (2007–08). While some variation 

occurred during the previous cycle (2002–06), its yearly rates 

were consistently higher than those of the two years in the 

new cycle (2006–07 and 2007–08). The recent lower rates may 

be due to the inclusion in the denominator of postsecondary 

dropouts and other persons who may have been away from 

secondary or postsecondary school longer than those included 

in the older definition.

1

 For purposes of continuity, some TRIO publications continue to use 

the term “college-ready” in descriptions of the enrollment measure 

and similar calculations, though the phrase no longer appears in the 

APR for EOC.
Report on the Educational Opportunity Centers Program: 2007–08, With Select Comparative Data, 2002–07

3

Table 2. Postsecondary application rate and student financial aid application rate of EOC 

program participants, by reporting year: 2006–07 and 2007–08

Application rate 2006–07 2007–08

Postsecondary application rate 68.0% 71.1%

Financial aid application rate 74.0% 76.6%

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO Programs, Educational Opportunity Centers performance reports, 2005–06, 2006–07 and 2007–08.

NOTE: Table reflects the current funding cycle in EOC: 2006–10. The percentages of the postsecondary application rate and student financial aid application 

rate were derived by dividing the number of participants who applied for postsecondary school admission or student financial aid by the number of high school 

graduates; high school equivalency graduates; high school seniors; adults without high school diploma or equivalency credentials enrolled in a continuing 

education program at a level equivalent to a high school senior; postsecondary dropouts; potential postsecondary transfers; and participants not older than 18 

years enrolled in an alternative education program at a level equivalent to a high school senior.

Figure 1. Postsecondary enrollment rate of EOC program participants, by reporting year:

2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO Programs, Educational Opportunity Centers performance reports, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 

2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08.

NOTE: Table reflects two four-year funding cycles in EOC: 2002–06 and 2006–10. The percentage of postsecondary enrollment was derived by dividing the 

number of participants enrolled in a program of postsecondary education by the number of high school graduates, high school equivalency graduates, and high 

school seniors; in 2006–07 and 2007–08, the denominator also included adults without high school diploma or equivalency credentials enrolled in a continuing 

education program at a level equivalent to a high school senior; postsecondary dropouts; potential postsecondary transfers; and participants not older than 18 

years enrolled in an alternative education program at a level equivalent to a high school senior.

Table 2 compares the percentages of certain program 

participants who applied for admission to an institution of 

postsecondary education and who applied for financial aid for 

attendance at an institution of postsecondary education in the 

first two years of the current cycle (2006–07 and 2007–08). 

Both rates increased between these years. The rates in Table 

2 are not directly comparable to those calculated in the 

previous grant cycle (2002–06) due to data problems involving 

overreporting of participants’ applications for admission and 

financial aid during the earlier cycle; figures for years prior to 

2006–07 are therefore omitted. The APR revised for the 2006–

07 reporting year resolved the data problems of earlier years. 

Although Figure 1 presents the most direct measurement of 

the EOC program goal of increasing the number of adult 

participants who enroll in institutions of postsecondary 

education, and although Table 2 presents measurable steps 

toward this main goal, all three measures take into account only 

“college-ready” participants, who represent around two-thirds 

of those served each year. In the current grant cycle, the APR 

includes data on a fourth objective established in the 2006 

competition that tracks the progress toward this ultimate goal 

made by another subset of participants: those who had neither 

enrolled in a continuing education program, nor obtained a 

high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate. 

Figure 2 displays the percentage of these participants who 

enrolled in a continuing education program during the 

reporting year. For this objective, a continuing education 

program is defined as any program that allows students to 

prepare themselves for postsecondary education via a diploma 

or equivalent—e.g., reenrollment in high school or enrollment 

in a GED program. If a student goes from high school dropout 

status (or equivalent) directly to postsecondary education 

without an intervening program, for purposes of the APR 

the postsecondary education program counts as continuing 

education.

56.2% 57.4% 56.9% 58.4% 54.2% 55.9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08

Percent

Reporting year
Report on the Educational Opportunity Centers Program: 2007–08, With Select Comparative Data, 2002–07

4

Participants

The EOC program primarily seeks to increase the percentage 

of low-income, potentially first-generation adult college 

students who successfully enroll in postsecondary education 

(although grantees also serve a significant percentage of 

students who do not fit this profile). The TRIO programs 

define low-income students as those whose families’ taxable 

income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of 

the poverty level amount established by the Census Bureau 

based on family size, with adjustments for determining the 

poverty status of residents of Alaska and Hawaii. Potentially 

first-generation college status refers to an individual neither 

of whose natural or adoptive parents received a baccalaureate 

degree, or a student who, prior to the age of 18, regularly 

resided with and received support from only one natural or 

adoptive parent and whose supporting parent did not receive a 

baccalaureate degree. The program’s regulations require that at 

least two-thirds of participants be both low-income individuals 

and potentially first-generation college students.

Table 3 shows the numbers and percentages of 2007–08 

program participants who were considered low-income, 

potentially first-generation college students, low-income 

only, potentially first-generation college students only, and 

neither low-income nor potentially first-generation college 

students. These percentages have remained stable between 

years and grant cycles. The table also shows the numbers and 

Figure 2. Percentage of EOC participants’ enrollment in a continuing education program, by 

reporting year: 2006–07 and 2007–08

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Feeral TRIO Programs, Educational Opportunity Centers performance reports, 2006–0

NOTE: Table reflects the current funding cycle in EOC: 2006–10. The percentage of enrollment in a continuing education program was derived by dividing the 

number of participants enrolled in a continuing education program during the reporting period by the number of participants who had neither already enrolled in 

a continuing education program nor obtained a high school diploma or high school equivalency certificate.

percentages of participants who were included in calculations 

for objectives involving postsecondary enrollment and 

application for postsecondary admission and financial aid. 

Finally, Table 3 displays the distribution of 2007–08 program 

participants by academic status. The categories used to describe 

participants’ academic status changed in the revised APR first 

used in 2006–07, but the general distribution was similar to 

the academic status of program participants in the previous 

grant cycle and APRs.

Table 4 displays the gender and age distribution of program 

participants served in each of the past three years (2005–06, 

2006–07, and 2007–08). The proportion of male participants 

served has increased relative to female participants in the 

most recent two years, but the distributions of participants by 

age range remained nearly the same in 2005–06 and 2006–07 

before an increase in high school-aged participants (14–18) 

and participants of unknown age, and a decrease in both 

groups of older participants (19–28 and 28+) in 2007–08. 

The EOC program, which primarily serves participants ages 

19 and older, also serves a significant percentage younger 

than 19. By comparison, in EOC’s sister program, Talent 

Search, which helps disadvantaged secondary school students 

enter postsecondary education, only 2.5 percent of 2007–08 

participants were 19 or older.

70%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

2006−07 2007−08

51.6%

58.7%

Percent

Reporting year
Report on the Educational Opportunity Centers Program: 2007–08, With Select Comparative Data, 2002–07

5

Table 3. Number and percentage distribution of EOC program participants, by program eligibility 

characteristics, inclusion in calculations for postsecondary objectives, and academic 

status: Reporting year 2007–08

Number Percentage

Program eligibility characteristics

Low-income, first-generation 150,158 74.3%

Low-income only 18,365 9.1%

Potentially first-generation only 24,745 12.2%

Neither low-income nor potentially first-generation 8,771 4.3%

Inclusion in calculations for postsecondary objective

Included in calculations for postsecondary objectives 129,368 64.0%

Not included in calculations for postsecondary objectives 

(includes unknown status)

72,671 36.0%

Academic status

Adult without high school diploma or equivalency credentials and not enrolled in a continuing 

education program

22,969 11.4%

Adult without high school diploma or equivalency credentials enrolled in a continuing education 

program at an academic level equivalent to a high school senior*

5,448 2.7%

High school graduates or high school equivalency graduates not already enrolled in a 

postsecondary school*

72,632 35.9%

Postsecondary dropout* 28,722 14.2%

Postsecondary student 36,641 18.1%

Potential postsecondary transfer* 6,167 3.1%

High School non-senior (9th–11th grade) 2,862 1.4%

High School senior (12th grade only)* 15,377 7.6%

Secondary school dropout (not older than 18 years) 2,535 1.3%

Participant not older than 18 years enrolled in an alternative education program at an academic 

level equivalent to a high school senior*

1,022 0.5%

Other/Unknown 7,664 3.8%

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO Programs, Educational Opportunity Centers performance report, 2007–08. 

NOTE: Table reflects the current funding cycle in EOC: 2006–10. Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

*Participants in this category are included in the outcomes calculations for postsecondary enrollment (figure 1) and application for postsecondary admissions 

and financial aid (table 2).
6

Report on the Educational Opportunity Centers Program: 2007–08, With Select Comparative Data, 2002–07

Table 5. Race and ethnicity of EOC program participants, by reporting year: 2005–06, 2006–07, 

and 2007–08

Race and ethnicity 2005–06 2006–07 Race and ethnicity 2007–08

American Indian or Alaska Native 3.7% 3.6% American Indian or Alaska Native, 

non-Hispanic/Latino

3.0%

Asian 1.4% 1.6% Asian, non-Hispanic/Latino 1.8%

Black or African-American 34.9% 34.4% Black or African-American, 

non-Hispanic/Latino

34.9%

Hispanic or Latino 16.7% 16.9% Hispanic or Latino of any race 18.0%

White 39.5% 39.6% White, non-Hispanic/Latino 38.2%

Native Hawaiian or 

Other Pacific Islander

0.5% 0.6% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 

non-Hispanic/Latino

0.6%

More than one race 2.1% 2.3% Two or more races, 

non-Hispanic/Latino

2.4%

Unknown race 1.3% 1.1% Race and ethnicity unknown 1.2%

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO Programs, Educational Opportunity Centers performance reports, 2005–06 and 2006–07.

NOTE: Table reflects two four-year funding cycles in EOC: 2002–06 and 2006–10. Categories are those used in the APRs for the years indicated; 2007–08 

reflects new Department-wide guidance on collecting and reporting data on race and ethnicity issued Oct. 19, 2007. The slight increase between 2005–06 

and 2007–08 in the proportion of Hispanic participants served and the concomitant decrease in the proportion of white and American Indian or Alaska Native 

participants served is partially due to 14 projects that did not receive grants in the FY 2006 grant competition; four of these projects served out their last year of 

funding in 2005–06 while the remaining ten completed their grants in 2006–07. Differences in distribution between 2006–07 and 2007–08 may also be due to 

the new guidance on collecting and reporting data on race and ethnicity reflected in the 2007–08 APR. Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Table 4. Distribution of EOC program participants by gender, age, and reporting year: 2005–06, 

2006–07, and 2007–08

Reporting year

2005–06 2006–07 2007–08

Gender and age of participants

Male 35.8% 37.2% 38.9%

Female 64.2% 62.8% 61.1%

Age 11–13 0.3% 0.2% 0.1%

Age 14–18 15.6% 16.0% 17.1%

Age 19–28 40.3% 40.3% 38.9%

Age 28+ 43.6% 43.3% 41.4%

Age Unknown 0.2% 0.2% 2.5%

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Federal TRIO Programs, Educational Opportunity Centers performance reports, 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08.

NOTE: Table reflects two four-year funding cycles in EOC: 2002–06 and 2006–10. Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Table 5 displays the race and ethnicity of the program 

participants served in each of the past three years; for 2007–08, 

the figures reflect new guidance on collecting and reporting this 

data issued Department-wide in late 2007 and incorporated 

into the 2007–08 APR (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/

list/ope/trio/tseoc-aprinstr-07-08.pdf, pp. 7–9).

Target Schools

EOC projects may serve participants through arrangements 

with high schools referred to as target schools. Because the 

focus of the EOC program is on adult participants, most EOC 

projects do not serve any target schools, and EOC projects 

may serve target schools only if the eligible students cannot be 

appropriately served by a Talent Search project. In reporting 

year 2007–08, 20 EOC projects served 212 target schools. 

Examination of the characteristics of the target schools 

served by both EOC and Talent Search grantees can be found 

in A Report on the Talent Search Program: 2007–08, With Select 

Comparative Data, 2002–07.
U.S. Department of Education

Arne Duncan

Secretary

Office of Postsecondary Education

Daniel T. Madzelan

Delegated the Authority to Perform the Functions and Duties of the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education

September 2009

This publication is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce it in whole or in part is granted. The publication’s citation 

should be: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, A Report on the Educational Opportunity Centers 

Program: 2007–08, With Select Comparative Data, 2002–07, Washington, D.C., 2009.

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