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The following article was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on July 22, 2008, on the annual GEAR UP Conference in Washington D.C. held July 21. The college readiness program created by Congressman Fattah celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and July 22 was declared “GEAR UP Day” by Resolution of the U.S. House of Representatives:

Another year of support will be added to GEAR UP, which gets low-income teens ready to start college.
By Dan Hardy Inquirer Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - A program created by U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah to help low-income students get into college will soon be expanded to help students make it through their first year.

Fattah announced the expansion of GEAR UP, a federally funded college preparation and scholarship program, yesterday at a conference in Washington marking its 10th anniversary.

"One of the big ugly secrets of higher education is that the majority of kids that start don't get a degree," said Fattah, a Philadelphia Democrat. "If they [GEAR UP students] are stumbling their way through the first year, without academic and other supports, they could have problems." GEAR UP is a six-year program from seventh through 12th grade. Giving the students a seventh year of support will help boost the numbers who stay in college, he added.

Fattah said the extra year was included in legislation that has passed the committees in both the House and the Senate. Authorization is expected in the fall.

GEAR UP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, takes low-income seventh graders, guides them through their senior year in high school and helps them get into colleges. Students get academic support including summer programs, mentoring and exposure to the college recruitment process. Their schools get training for teachers and help in designing curriculum.

The program has grown from a $120 million federal allocation in 1999 to $303.4 million this year, with matching funds coming from states, school districts and higher education organizations. About $2.7 billion in federal money has been spent overall.

Across the country, 738,000 students were in GEAR UP this year.

GEAR UP participants have an average high school graduation rate of about 86 percent compared with 64 percent for all low-income students and a post-secondary education enrollment rate of about 60 percent compared with 53 percent for all low-income students.

This coming school year about 1,700 Philadelphia students will participate in GEAR UP through a six-year, $18 million grant to the state that will also serve students in Harrisburg and Allentown.

Fattah authored the program in 1998 and won support from President Clinton who said it "creates middle-class expectations for working-class young people." GEAR UP has survived attempts by President Bush to kill it.

Read the complete article at: www.philly.com/

Watch video: U.S. House passes resolution proclaiming July 22nd National Gear Up Day

Colleagues Praise Congressman Fattah and GEAR UP: “The best thing since sliced bread.” (PDF)

Introduced by Congressman Fattah in the 110th: 
 

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