Gear Up Grant

September 7, 1999

 

 

09/07/99

 


CONTACT:
Margie Yu
Public Affairs Asst.
(323) 343-3047

 


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Cal State L.A. Awarded a Five-Year,
$2.4 Million USDOE Grant
for College Preparatory Program

Los Angeles, CA-Sept. 7, 1999-California State University, Los Angeles recently received $476,007, the first part of a five-year partnership grant totaling $2.4 million, from the U.S. Department of Education, under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP).

Cal State L.A. is one of 164 recipients selected out of more than 670 applicants for this partnership grant between colleges and low-income middle and junior high schools. Participants will work with students, usually beginning in the seventh grade, to ensure they have the preparation and support to succeed in college.

GEAR UP is a new national initiative to encourage more young people to have high expectations, stay in school, study hard and take the right courses to go to college. It is modeled in part after President Clinton's High Hopes for College proposal to create a national goal that every college should partner with at least one middle school in a low-income community to help raise expectation and ensure that students are well-prepared for college. GEAR UP also builds on an existing state-funded early college awareness program. This new competitive grant program, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, supports early college preparation and awareness activities at both the local and the state level.

As outlined in the High Hopes for Colleges proposal, this initiative will award multi-year grants to locally-designed partnerships between colleges and low-income middle schools, and will include at least two other partners, such as community organizations, businesses, religious groups, state education agencies, parent groups, or nonprofits, to increase college-going rates among low-income youths.

Cal State L.A. will begin this outreach program with Griffith Middle School, part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, effective fall 1999. The program will follow students through Garfield High School.

For more information on the GEAR UP grant, call David Godoy at the Cal State L.A. Admissions and Outreach Office, (323) 343-3103.

 

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