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What We Do

Purpose

GEAR UP services are designed to increase the number of underrepresented students from low-income backgrounds to progress onto higher education, and to equip them with college and career readiness skills to help them succeed in the baccalaureate and beyond. GEAR UP services aim to meet the following objectives:

  • Enhance academic achievement in mathematics and language arts
  • Provide on-time interventions to ensure academic success and increase student and parent/guardian knowledge of postsecondary options and financial aid
  • Develop a college-going culture among school sites and among families
  • Promote systemic change aimed at increasing the number of students prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education
  • Ensure career readiness among our students

GEAR UP students at tabling event

Graduates at graduation ceremony

Goals

GEAR UP programs aim to provide students with the resources they need to prepare for college, career, and life success. Students are given access to career exploration resources, college exposure, financial aid assistance, and educational cohort field trips.

An overview of GEAR UP’s program objectives include:

Increase the academic performance and preparation for postsecondary education of GEAR UP students.

Increase the rate of high school graduation and participation in postsecondary education for GEAR UP students.

Increase GEAR UP students’ and their families’ knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing.

History & Grants

CSUF received its first GEAR UP grant in 1999, which began the university’s partnership with Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD). CSUF has received the GEAR UP grant six times, partnering with AUHSD for each one: in 1999, 2008, 2011, 2016, 2018, and 2021. The start of each grant focuses on services and interventions for that year’s seventh grade class.

The GEAR UP grant awarded in 2016 served the cohort of students graduating high school in 2021 from Anaheim, Katella, and Loara high schools. For the first time, GEAR UP was also able to follow these students into their first year in college.

The CSUF GEAR UP grant awarded in 2018 serves the cohort of students who will graduate high school in 2024 from Savanna, Magnolia, and Western high schools. GEAR UP will continue to support these students in their first year in college.

The largest CSUF GEAR UP grant to date, awarded in 2021, serves the cohort of students from Sycamore, Ball, and South junior high schools. GEAR UP will follow the 7th-grade cohort of students through their expected graduation in 2027 from Loara, Anaheim, and Katella high schools and throughout the year after they graduate from high school.

GEAR UP Leadership MIXER

Schools We Serve