Why, for example, is program limited in the Verde Valley to only Mingus and Cottonwood-Oak Creek?
The Department of Education’s GEAR UP grant program is designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. In August 2, 2018 Heather Mulcaire said in her role as Yavapai College’s Associate Dean of Student Success that GEAR UP recently received a $100k grant from Northern Arizona University (NAU). She went on to say during an interview with Verde Independent reporter Bill Helm on August 2 that NAU “invited us to apply for a part of their grant to continue to service these students.” (The Community College received an amount but how much is not reported.)
According to the August story in the Independent, seven years ago, GEAR UP was implemented to better expose young people to the opportunities of college. In Yavapai County, two high schools, Mingus Union and Prescott Valley’s Bradshaw Mountain, were given this initial opportunity. Most recently in January 2019, Dr. James Perey said that the program “began seven years ago with the Cottonwood-Oak Creek and Mingus Union school districts.”
This year, Yavapai College started the fall 2018 semester with 162 Gear Up kids, with 151 of them from the Verde Valley, the rest from Prescott area schools, according to Meghan Paquette, the Community College’s GEAR UP success adviser. (What grade levels, etc.)
However, halfway into the 2018-2019 school year, Dr. James Perey said that the GEAR UP grant “has been very successful, with 187 students participating overall, 133 completing the 18-19 application for financial aid.” (How much of grant is going to scholarships to the Community College? How much of grant is going to support middle school children and high schoolers?)
Unfortunately, the information flowing from the College about how GEAR UP is being run overall and why only Mingus was chosen to participate from the east side of the County is less than clear.
The GEAR UP initiative is one of the largest and claimed to be an effective program focused on increasing the college and career readiness of low-income students in communities nationwide. GEAR UP is a highly competitive grant program that helps empower local partnerships comprised of K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, state agencies, and community organizations to achieve three strategic goals: (1) increasing the postsecondary expectations and readiness of students; (2) improving high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment rates; and (3) raising the knowledge of postsecondary options, preparation, and financing among students and families.
The theory behind the GEAR UP program is that every child deserves a chance to pursue higher education. But getting to college is complicated and waiting until their senior year of high school to prepare them is too late.
As noted above, there are a number of questions about how the grant money is being allocated by the Community College and precisely who is benefiting.