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GEAR UP program at IU selected for national study
July 13, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- An Indiana University educational program aimed at getting more rural high school students to attend college has been chosen for a national study because of its excellence.
Termed GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), the U.S. Department of Education program is operated by IU as a partnership of Orange County schools, businesses, parents and community organizations. The Orange County program has $l million in funding for five years.
The federal government commissioned a study of 20 of the 164 GEAR UP partnership grants. According to Juanita Lucas-McLean, program analyst for the evaluators, the Orange County program was selected "because it is one of the best-organized GEAR UP projects and has made excellent progress in its first year of operation."
The focus on a rural county also is of interest because of the need to encourage rural children to be prepared for higher education, explained William Harwood, associate professor in the IU School of Education and project director for the Orange County program.
Harwood said the Orange County GEAR UP mission is to encourage, support and expand the education, training and career opportunities for youth.
"We are very pleased to have been selected to participate in this study," Harwood said. "This project is an important part of Indiana University's mission to the state. Half of the students in Indiana are served by rural schools, and we hope that our project will become a model for other school systems throughout the state and our region of the Midwest."
(Richard Doty, 812-855-0084, rgdoty@indiana.edu)