MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii will receive $3,425,674 to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education, Sens. Daniel K. Akaka and Daniel K. Inouye has announced.

The funds come from a grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education through the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP).

Akaka said: “A quality education is the cornerstone to building a future for our students and our country. As economic hardships hit households and states tighten budgets across the country, it is important that we continue to make investments in education. With this funding, GEAR UP will help to ensure that our disadvantaged and low-income students are better prepared to take advantage of higher education.”

Inouye said: “I am very pleased that these funds will be used to help prepare students for college. Providing a quality education for our children is the greatest investment we can make in our future. Unfortunately, about 80,000 public school kids in Hawaii live at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. The only way to break this debilitating cycle is to teach our young people that education is the way out of poverty, and provide them the means to attain that education so they may improve themselves and our communities.”

GEAR UP provides six-year grants to states and partnerships to provide services at high-poverty middle and high schools. GEAR UP grantees serve a group of students beginning no later than the seventh grade and follow them through high school.

GEAR UP funds are also used to provide college scholarships to low-income students.

Through the partnership of the University of Hawaii, state Department of Education, local community organizations, government agencies, and businesses, GEAR UP in Hawaii will provide services to nearly 21,000 students between 2011 and 2017.

— Find out more:
GEAR UP Hawaii: http://gearup.hawaii.edu/