In Colorado, Greeley-Evans School District 6, more 2015 high school graduates enrolled in college than the previous year, seeming to turn around a steady decline in enrollment. The improvement was attributed in large part to both GEAR UP and the Advancing via Individual Determination (AVID) programs.

Michigan GEAR UP was highlighted as part of Western Michigan University’s Office of Precollege Programming. The office provides high school students across the state direction and guidance needed before taking the next step to college and career.

As 200 eighth-graders from Ponderosa Middle School clambered out of four yellow school buses at Klamath Community College on Friday morning, they gathered in color coordinated groups to prepare for Ponderosa Gear-Up day.

Gear-Up (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federal grant program from the U.S. Department of Education that aims to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in college by providing funding to assist with educational field trips and workshops.

This is the third year that Ponderosa has received the $50,000 grant, Ponderosa Gear-Up grant coordinator Amy Hill said, which allows students to explore their options outside the classroom and be exposed to future possibilities.

In Tennessee, Grainger High School saw a sharp increase of the number of students who enrolled in postsecondary institutions immediately following graduation. In just two years, the number of students who enrolled immediately went from 25% to 75%. Vicki Farrar, the GEAR UP coordinator for Grainger County Schools, attributes this increase in large part to GEAR UP, along with Tennessee Promise.