Two Recent Grants Support Programs and Services for Pre-College Students

NJIT is one of six higher education partners in New Jersey awarded federal funding over the next seven years, from the U.S. Department of Education, for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). Here in Newark, the university’s Center for Pre-College Programs (CPCP) administers GEAR UP, which provides academic enrichment opportunities to economically disadvantaged middle and high school students with the aim to improve their college attendance and success.

According to the state’s secretary of higher education, Zakiya Smith Ellis, GEAR UP “has a successful record in New Jersey over the past 20 years, with over 75% of student graduates enrolling in college.”

The funding will enable CPCP to provide college preparation services that include tutoring, mentoring, college tours and direct academic instruction after school and on weekends. GEAR UP also benefits teachers through professional development opportunities, and families of the program’s students through the dissemination of college information.

“We are very pleased to receive renewed funding for GEAR UP that will allow CPCP staff to resume services to more than 500 students, grades six to 12, in targeted Newark Public Schools beginning this fall,” said Jacqueline Cusack, CPCP executive director. “New to this grant is the extension of services to first-year college students that will include career planning as well as tutoring and mentoring.”

CPCP is also the recipient of a $25,000 grant from the Arconic Foundation that will help support the center’s Aeronautical Engineering Programs (AEP) this coming summer.

“Thanks to this award, we will be able to provide scholarships to students who wish to enroll in AEP, one of CPCP's series of summer programs for students completing fifth grade,” Cusack noted. “Through AEP, students are introduced to aeronautical engineering concepts for application in laboratory settings and field experiences to increase their knowledge of aviation and gain a greater appreciation of its impact upon their lives.”