For many city students, a college education is closer to reality — thanks to a tax-supported program between Syracuse University and the Syracuse City School District.
“There is a common belief among students, parents and teachers, that many students in our schools will not go to college,” said Bea Gonzalez, dean of SU’s University College and the executive director of SU’s federal GEAR UP program. “We’re trying to eliminate that belief.”
GEAR UP is the acronym for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. For Syracuse, GEAR UP is funded by a state grant of $3.4 million from the Higher Education Services Corporation and a federal grant of $8.2 million from the U.S. Department of Education. Both grants came to SU 2006.
GEAR UP is designed to increase the number of high school students who graduate and prepare them for college. Syracuse received the grants because it has one of the lowest graduation rates in the state. In 2005 — the year it received the GEAR UP grants —the city school district’s graduation rate was 52.1 percent.
Syracuse is still hovering around a 50-percent graduation rate. But that does not yet reflect any GEAR UP effects, program officials say, because the program’s focus has been on students not yet old enough to graduate.
GEAR UP was created in 1998 by the Higher Education Act. The program is now in 47 states and three territories.
The GEAR UP program is available to students from families with incomes below the federal poverty level. That’s just over $31,000 a year for a family of three. Now, about 3,000 Syracuse students are in GEAR UP. This number varies slightly, depending on the number of students who leave or enter the district.
GEAR UP offers a variety of support to students, said Sheila Kusi, assistant director of programs and assessment for the Syracuse City School District. “We’re doing everything we can to give students whatever resources possible to help them succeed,” said Kusi.
GEAR UP offers city students:
- Visits to several colleges, including SU
- Professional tutoring services, mostly by college students, and certified teachers and professionals within the community
- Discussion panels with current college students
- And assistance with completing applications for financial aid
In 2006, the Syracuse GEAR UP program began working with groups of 6th and 7th grade students at 11 Syracuse middle schools. Now, the federally funded portion of the program now provides support to 9th and 10th graders at the four Syracuse high schools and the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central. The state funded portion, NY GEAR UP, provides support to 11th grade students.
Traditionally, students in lower-income families have had a much harder time attending and graduating from college, according to education experts and education research. Some key statistics from the National Center for Education Statistics echo this. In a study from 2007 the Center found:
- 8.9 percent of all students from low-income families dropped out of high school.
- 3.8 percent from middle-income families dropped out.
- And only 1.5 percent from high-income families dropped out.
Ultimately, the goal of gear up is to get more Syracuse students to graduate from high school and potentially attend college with financial aid, said Gonzalez, SU dean and GEAR UP director.
“How we get to where we want to be is very difficult,” said Gonzalez, “but that’s why we’re working on it.”
(Pete Smith is a junior with dual majors in newspaper journalism and Middle Eastern studies.)
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