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News Release

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Education Information Services 125 South Webster Street P.O. Box 7841 Madison, WI 53707-7841 (608) 266-3559

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DPI-NR 2011-122Monday, October 24, 2011Contact: Patrick Gasper, DPI Communications Officer, (608) 266-3559

GEAR UP grant serves students in high-poverty middle and high schools MADISON — Wisconsin is one of 19 states nationwide that won a competitive federal grant to provide support and

services to students from low-income families to help them prepare for college.

The $5 million grant for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)

will enroll approximately 2,700 middle and high school students in the Ashland, D.C. Everest, Eau Claire, Green

Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, and Wausau school districts. The grant also will fund college and career

readiness outreach services for about 45,000 students, parents, and school district staff throughout the state. Pending

approval of continued federal funding, the grant will be for six years, totaling $30 million.

“This program targets middle school students, most of whom will be the first in their families to attend

college,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers. “The academic and college readiness services that GEAR UP

provides means the majority of these kids will take college prep classes, graduate, and continue their education.

GEAR UP is good for individual students and good for Wisconsin.”

Direct services from GEAR UP include academic advising to encourage students to take rigorous college-

preparatory coursework, assistance with college admission and financial applications, precollege summer

opportunities, and college readiness workshops. Additionally, students receive help developing education and career

plans and a GEAR UP scholarship upon high school graduation. Each year, one-half of the state’s GEAR UP grant

is committed to scholarships for participating students.

The Wisconsin GEAR UP grant will use a priority approach, offering services to sixth- through 10th-grade

students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals. An additional 400 11th- and 12th-grade priority

students in participating districts will receive assistance in applying to college. The grant requires a 50 percent

match to the federal funding.

Wisconsin has been active in GEAR UP since its inception. The Wisconsin Educational Opportunity

Program (WEOP) was one of the very first state grantees of the original GEAR UP grant competition, which took 

place in 1999. The second grant competition took place in 2005. During the first five years of Wisconsin’s 2005

8/3/2019 10.24.11 FY11 GU Grant Announcement - WI Dep. of Public Instruction News Release

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GEAR UP grant – Page 2

grant, 1,494 seniors out of a total of 1,748 (85 percent) graduated from high school. Of those graduating seniors,

89 percent applied to either a two- or four-year public or private college.

In addition to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction GEAR UP award in the 2011 grant cycle,

Milwaukee Public Schools received a separate $2.2 million GEAR UP partnership grant, renewable for up to seven

years. The district will be working with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee to improve high school

graduation and college readiness and access for middle school students.

“The GEAR UP goal is to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and

succeed in postsecondary education,” Evers noted. “We want every child to graduate ready for the workforce or

further education, and GEAR UP is helping us provide an environment that helps ensure student success.”

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NOTE: This news release is available electronically at http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2011_122.pdf .