Last month, the University of California was awarded a $66 million grant to help secondary schools strengthen classroom instruction, support families and prepare students for higher education.
The award is part of GEAR UP, short for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, and was granted by the Department of Education.
Announced on Sept. 30, the grant will allow the UC, in partnership with the Intersegmental Coordinating Committee, or ICC, for the California Education Round Table, to fund their next seven year cycle of California GEAR UP’s comprehensive education model — aimed at preparing students for the greatest number of postsecondary choices.
The grant was established in 1999 and since then, the UC has acted as the grant’s “administrator,” ensuring that funds are used in a way that “stay(s) true to the purpose of the grant,” according to Carolina Cárdenas Costilla, the executive director for GEAR UP and the California Education Round Table ICC.
“With this support, UC will continue building pathways to ensure that more students not only attend college but thrive — helping secure a brighter future for California and the nation,” Yvette Gullatt, UC vice president for graduate and undergraduate affairs and vice provost for equity, diversity and inclusion said in a press release.
GEAR UP’s model is a cohort program that follows seventh grade students through their first year of college, according to Cárdenas Costilla. She added that they focus on low-income schools throughout California, with a threshold of 50% or more students receiving free and reduced lunches.
GEAR UP offers services such as tutoring, mentoring and homework assistance to students. They also work with teachers, providing professional development learning, especially in mathematics and English language arts.
“In the past we had a slightly different model, but at the end of the day it is still about supporting seventh grade students that make it all the way through their senior year and then apply for their first year of college,” Cárdenas Costilla said.
While the grant awarded $66 million over seven years, only $33 million of that is from federal dollars. The GEAR UP award is a dollar-for-dollar match, and partners will provide the rest of the funding over the course of the seven year grant cycle. They will come in the form of in-kind contributions, also known as non-monetary donations of goods and services.
The in-kind contributions can be from a variety of sources. According to Cárdenas Costilla, they can take the form of space on a school campus, the time school faculty spend attending professional learning opportunities, state testing administered through the Department of Education and more.
While the grant is administered by the UC, it is an intersegmental project supported by the California State University system, California Community College system, the California Department of Education and the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities.
“It is a truly intersegmental collaboration,” Cardenas Costilla said. “The University of California is where we live, that is where we do our work from, but it is an intersegmental statewide project.”