Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $80 Million to Improve College Readiness, Access, and Success for Low-Income Students

Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $80 Million to Improve College Readiness, Access, and Success for Low-Income Students

August 28, 2024

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announced today more than $80 million in grant awards to 26 grantees to improve access to postsecondary education for students from low-income backgrounds. The grants are being provided under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) program, which aims to significantly increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who are prepared to attend and succeed in postsecondary education. 

“GEAR UP helps communities come together to start early in preparing young people to go to college and succeed,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal. “The Biden-Harris Administration has fought to help all students reach their college dreams and go on to a better life.”

GEAR UP provides six- or seven-year grants to states and partnerships to provide services at middle and high schools serving a large proportion of students from low-income backgrounds. Eight grantees are receiving awards through the GEAR UP State program and 18 grantees are receiving awards through the GEAR UP Partnership program. More information can be found here

A list of grantees can be found below: 

State

Grantee

Amount of Grant

Type of Grant

AR

Arkansas Tech University

$925,600

Partnership

CA

Vaughn Next Century Learning Center District

$2,709,600

Partnership

GA

Bibb County School District

$2,643,209

Partnership

IN

Purdue University

$4,995,000

State

KS

University of Kansas Center for Research

$760,000

Partnership

KS

University of Kansas Center for Research

$2,400,000

Partnership

KS

Wichita State University

$3,500,000

State

MN

Minnesota Office of Higher Education

$4,450,000

State

NC

Appalachian State University

$5,000,000

Partnership

OH

Cleveland Municipal School District

$204,000

Partnership

OH

ESC of Northeast Ohio

$3,680,000

Partnership

OK

Seminole State College

$934,400

Partnership

RI

Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner Rhode Island

$4,800,000

State

TN

Tennessee Technological University

$1,424,800

Partnership

TN

Tennessee Higher Education Commission

$4,999,848

State

TX

Education Service Center Region 10

$3,606,400

Partnership

TX

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

$4,215,200

Partnership

TX

University of Texas at Austin

$4,614,400

Partnership

TX

University of Texas at Austin

$2,836,000

Partnership

TX

Region One Education Service Center

$4,831,200

Partnership

TX

Victoria County Junior College District

$191,072

Partnership

UT

Utah Valley University

$4,500.000

State

VA

James Madison University 

$321,600

Partnership

WA

University of Washington

$3,035,200

Partnership

WA

Washington Student Achievement Council

$5,000,000

State

WY

The University of Wyoming

$4,019,424

State

Total

$80,596,953