What is the Educational Opportunity Center?

The Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) is a federally funded educational outreach TRIO program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to promote postsecondary education to underrepresented populations. The EOC motivates and assists low-income, first-generation adults who want to begin, resume, or continue their education beyond the high school level.

The mission of the program is to expand awareness about educational opportunities and postsecondary education options to low-income first generation individuals throughout the Tri-county area.

The goal of the project is to increase the number of Tri-county adults who enroll in postsecondary (college) education institutions.

The EOC program assists adults who are interested in continuing their education to the postsecondary (college) level. Each year, EOC serves approximately 2,000 adults from the Tri-county community. You are eligible to participate in the program if you are:

• 18 years of age and older
• A resident of Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties
• A citizen or permanent resident of the United States of America
• A first-generation college student (Neither one of your parents has completed a bachelor’s degree at a four-year college or university)
• From a low-income family (Based on the federal low income guidelines)
• Referrals to local GED programs

What Can EOC Assist Me With?

Obtaining high school credentials such as the: General Education Diploma (GED), High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) or Adult High School Certificate (AHS).

Enrolling into college by assisting with the college admissions and financial aid application process.

EOC can also help with college selection and admissions information, re-enrolling back into college or transferring from a two year to a four-year college, career exploration and planning, and information about how to resolve issues related to student loan default.

As you can see the Educational Opportunity Center program provides a wide variety of services to qualified adults who want to complete a GED or enter or continue a college program .