Most colleges and universities today have been designed to serve the "average" student, that is to say, those students who have been brought up in the suburbs, with no physical, mental or economic difficulties getting through high school, who have now arrived at a place of higher learning ready to continue studying the way they always have and getting the grades they always gotten: A's, B's and C's.

But what, I can hear you ask, about those students that had trouble in high school? What about those students who have to have financial aid just to think about setting foot on a university campus? What about those students who have to go around in a wheelchair, who always had to study three times as hard to get the same grade, who don't have college-educated parents to help them with their homework?

Exactly. Many universities today were not designed for these students. Students who are termed "first generation" students, or students without parents who have degrees, often have a harder time getting through college, as do students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and students with physical and learning disabilities.

So to level the playing field, Congress created Student Support Services in the Higher Education Act of 1965. It's a Title VI program authorized and funded by the U. S. Department of Education, and today there are many Student Support Services departments on college and university campuses all across the country, bringing their services to underrepresented students free of charge.

SSS offers tutoring services in all the major disciplines; weekly workshops and lectures to aid students in the process of adjusting to life on campus, in learning to take notes and tests, and to budget their time and money, among other things; and opportunities to take field trips to places those students might not otherwise have the chance to visit.

The goal of Student Support Services here at Lincoln University is to make certain that every student who comes to us for help stays in school and not only graduates, but learns to be self-sufficient, so he or she can move on to further studies or a great career. We believe that given the opportunity, our students can and will succeed!