$10 million grant to help college preparedness

By Nicole Back - Staff Writer

High school students in eastern Kentucky are not as prepared for college as they should be, according to David Rudy, dean of IRAPP at Morehead State University.

Rudy said his group is working on a project that will change that.

“Literally there will be over 12, 000 students that will be impacted,” Rudy said.

The project is called Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP. GEAR UP covers Floyd, Martin, Johnson, Pike, Magoffin and Morgan counties. Seventh grade students who agree to participate will be a part of the project until their senior year of high school.

Because the model is a cohort model, this year’s 8th graders will not directly benefit.

“There will be some indirect ways that are not insignificant,” Rudy said. “For example, if a teacher teaches 7th grade math as well as 8th grade math, all students in the classroom will have access to better micro computers to use in math exercises.”

Rudy said students in the six counties need extra help with math and science because they tend to struggle in these areas.

Jeffrey Liles, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Services at MSU, said he has seen a need for ACT scores to increase in English, as well.

“Now more than ever it’s important that students really look at the challenging courses in high school and make sure they continue taking English classes and the math courses through their senior year so that they don’t find they’re facing a gap between what the state has determined as the standard to be ready for college and where they are,” Liles said.

Liles said students who score low on their ACT will be required to take placement tests for the subject areas in which they are underprepared. Students are placed into a provisional studies program where they are given extra attention and support while in college. Provisional studies programs include developmental coursework, tutoring and catch-up sessions. Students sometimes do not receive college credit for these classes.

Rudy said because of GEAR UP, fewer students will have to take developmental courses once admitted into college.

Part of the program includes summer science camps.

Rudy said many middle school students in the six counties do not have access to a real laboratory environment.

“These summer camps, you have the best, most energetic math and science teachers who work with 15 to 20 students over a two to three week time period,” he said.

Students are not the only ones who will be impacted by GEAR UP, Rudy said. Their parents will, too.

Rudy said when the program first starts parents will be made aware of college issues including accessibility, financial aid and the application process.

“Parents are informed of the types of math and science decisions their children will make and how those courses will impact their acceptance into college,” he said. “They will be made aware of whether their children will have to take developmental courses in college.”

The program is not cheap. IRAPP has received a $10.1 million grant to operate GEAR UP. The grant is the largest awarded in the history of MSU.

Rudy said $10.1 million sounds like a lot of money.

“You’re talking about over 12,000 students over the course of the program,” he said. “You’re talking six years. You’re talking about hiring a project director, an assistant director, an administrative person. Each of the counties will either hire a student facilitator or some of the schools will hire what they call building point persons.

There’s a lot of staffing that needs to take place. But by and large the majority of the money goes to technology projects and programmatic aspects of the program. It directly supports the academic performance of the young people.”

Rudy said partners come to the table with match dollars.

“The match on a project like this is typically one-to-one so the total value of the work is really 20.2 million and could be a couple hundred thousand larger than that,” Rudy said.

The GEAR UP program Rudy’s team is planning for is not the first of its kind. The prior GEAR UP program lasted six years but because of federal budget issues, there was limited opportunity to reapply.

“Several years back there was an application process,” Dr. David Rudy said. “We applied for a grant at that time and only three proposals of five proposals nationwide were accepted. This time the competition again was incredibly intense.”

Rudy said IRAPP and partners from the six participating counties have submitted a plan for GEAR UP to the U.S. Department of Education. They are in the process of hiring a director and assistant director.

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