Upward Bound Mission Statement
Upward Bound gives underprivileged students an opportunity to prepare for higher education. Qualifying participants receive instruction in literature, composition, mathematics, and science after school, on Saturdays, and during the summer.
Our nation has asserted a commitment to providing educational opportunity for all Americans regardless of race, ethnic background or economic circumstance. In support of this commitment, Congress established a series of programs to help low-income Americans enter college, graduate and move on to rewarding careers. These programs are funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and are referred to as the TRIO programs (initially just three programs). Upward Bound is a Federal TRIO program funded by a grant cycle of $1,427,412.00; with this grant, Upward Bound is able to serve 70 students per year of funding.
As mandated by Congress, two-thirds of the students served must come from low-income families, where neither parent graduated from college. Over 1,900 TRIO programs currently serve nearly 872,000 low-income Americans between the ages of 11 and 27. Many programs serve students in grades 6 through 12. Thirty-seven percent of TRIO students are White, 35 percent are African-American, 19 percent are Hispanic, 4 percent are Native-American and 4 percent are Asian-American. Sixteen thousand TRIO students are disabled.
While student financial aid programs help students overcome financial barriers to higher education, TRIO programs help students overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education.
Best of all, the friends participants will make during Upward Bound are friendships that can last a lifetime. Participants will meet students from other schools who are willing to work hard and have fun together. This is an opportunity one will not want to miss.
Over 1,200 colleges, universities, community colleges, and agencies now offer TRIO programs in America. TRIO funds are distributed to institutions through competitive grants. Students in the Upward Bound program are four times more likely to earn an undergraduate degree than those students from similar backgrounds who did not participate in TRIO; nearly 20 percent of all Black and Hispanic freshmen who entered college in 1981 received assistance through the TRIO Talent Search or EOC programs; students in the TRIO Student Support Services program are more than twice as likely to remain in college than those students from similar backgrounds who did not participate in the program.
Students interested in applying for Upward Bound at Snow College must meet the following qualifications:
