PROGRAM OVERVIEW

            In 2005, Ohio received a six-year Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) state grant from the U.S. Department of Education. GEAR UP provides federal grant funds for educational programs at the state and local partnership levels to encourage young people to raise their academic expectations, stay in school, take challenging courses, and go to college. In 1999, Ohio was one of 21 original states awarded a state level grant.

           Ohio's 2005 GEAR UP State Program demonstrates the benefits of a comprehensive approach to increasing college participation, access, and success. Eight high-poverty communities in the state with low college participation and high remediation rates are serving as "lighthouse" sites for this program.

Ohio’s GEAR UP State Grant Program is built on a partnership in which the Ohio Board of Regents, as the lead organization, works with its partners, the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) and the Ohio Department of Education, to implement proven comprehensive strategies for increasing the numbers of students at selected middle and high schools in the eight targeted urban and rural “lighthouse” communities that successfully participate in postsecondary education.

            The Ohio GEAR UP State Program provides a comprehensive system of school- and community-based services to improve the college aspiration, preparation, and successful participation of approximately 30,000 “priority” students and their families over the six years of the grant. Ohio’s GEAR UP offers a menu of proven college access best practices from Ohio’s successful 1999 GEAR UP State Program. These best practices are programs and services that most effectively meet the needs of the students, families, and teachers in the “lighthouse” communities. The services include:

  •  in-school advising and early awareness activities
  • academic preparation and enrichment
  • tutoring, after-school, and summer programs
  •  information on financial aid
  • parental involvement activities
  • enhanced professional development opportunities for teachers

The University of Cincinnati will conduct an ongoing program evaluation and determine those activities that are especially effective in helping students aspire to, prepare for, and successfully participate in college.

GOALS & OBJECTIVES:

  • To assure GEAR UP students are academically prepared for high school completion and success in postsecondary education
  • To increase GEAR UP student and parent understanding of the importance and relevance of higher education and increase the number of students who aspire higher education
  • To increase student and parent understanding of actual college costs and the availability of financial aid opportunities to assure financial affordability
  • To ensure that the eight "lighthouse" sites will become self-sustaining, develop civic participation in their programs, and spread awareness and replicate GEAR UP best practices in other schools and communities

VISION

GEAR UP Ohio envisions every student, regardless of his or her parents’ wealth, ethnic background or geographic location, graduating from high school with the knowledge and skills he or she needs to succeed in college and the workplace—and it sees a future in which fewer students need remediation during their first year of postsecondary education.

GEAR UP Ohio envisions a growing number of disadvantaged students—young people who are traditionally underrepresented in college—who aspire to, prepare for, participate in and succeed in post-secondary education.

GEAR UP Ohio envisions a strong network of community-based college access organizations working together with teachers and schools to ensure that all students receive academic and support services to help them stay in school, study hard and take challenging and relevant courses that prepare them for college.

GEAR UP Ohio envisions parents and families developing high expectations for their children, learning how to begin to plan with them to attend college, and working with teachers to ensure that their children take a challenging college-ready curriculum and learning about ways to finance college.

GEAR UP Ohio envisions supportive employers, faith-based groups, community organizations and institutions of higher education that are actively engaged in providing students with mentors who encourage them to have high aspirations, ensuring that schools teach classes that prepare young people for postsecondary education and helping families learn about opportunities beyond high school.