The Department of Education (Education) gives grants to schools and organizations that provide disadvantaged students with services to help them attend college. These eight grant programs are collectively known as "TRIO," named for the original three programs. Congress provides over $1 billion each year to these programs, but Education could do more to understand how well these grants work to help students. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed data from Education about TRIO grantees and applicants. GAO also reviewed relevant federal laws and regulations and agency documents, and interviewed Education officials and other TRIO stakeholders. GAO found that Education could improve the information it has about TRIO programs in two areas: (1) grantee performance data; and (2) program assessments. Education evaluates grantees' performance using the self-reported data, but has done little to verify the data. As for assessing the individual TRIO programs, studies of some programs are outdated. In addition, Education has never assessed the effectiveness of three of the seven TRIO programs that serve students, and did not have any new assessments planned as of August 2020. Education should take additional steps to ensure the reliability of grantees' performance data and develop a plan for assessing the effectiveness of the TRIO programs that serve students. Education generally agreed with GAO recommendations.