Tennessee Technological University receives $10 million grant from U.S. Department of Education

Tennessee Technological University has received a US Department of Education grant that will allow the school to assist in getting young students in rural communities ready for college. The Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant is the second-largest grant Tennessee Tech has ever received, in the amount of $10 million.

According to an article on Tennessee Tech’s website, Darek Potter, who serves as the director of the Millard Oakley STEM Center as well as an assistant professor of exercise science, will be one of the project leads for the GEAR UP grant. Of the project, he is quoted as saying, “GEAR UP is specifically designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education. We see the need, especially in the rural areas we work in, to provide more supports for students to reduce obstacles to higher education. That’s what this is all about.”

Two other faculty members at Tennessee Tech are working on the project with Potter. Julie Baker is the interim associate provost and dean of the College of Graduate Studies, and Luke Anderson is the instructor of curriculum and instruction. Potter, Baker, and Anderson are all former teachers from K-12 classrooms, and have all seen first hand how important projects like GEAR UP are in getting students on the right trajectory for college, especially those from rural areas.

“I came from a very rural background where college wasn’t seen as an option for many of the students I grew up with. Now, we’re in a position where we can help provide opportunities to increase college readiness for rural students. This is a way to do that – to say to rural students from those four counties, ‘You can do this. You can go to college. There is a pathway for you,’” said Baker.

The grant has been designed to serve students in the rural counties of Clay, Overton, Scott, and Warren, specifically. These counties have all been designated as distressed, at-risk, or transitional by the Appalachian Regional Commission, an organization which is focused on strengthening communities in and the economy of Appalachia.

The specifics of the grant outline that every sixth and seventh grade student in the four counties the grant is focusing on–approximately 1,700 students–will receive support in the form of mentorships and other resources that will follow them for the next seven years until they are college aged. Part of the program calls for the implementation of an early warning system that will help teachers and advisors help students who are at-risk stay on track. The early warning system will take into consideration students’ ACT scores and grades in Algebra I. Tennessee Tech will hire an executive director for the program that will oversee the outreach that is being given to all of these students. Additionally, there will be four college access advisors who will be available in each of the four counties to work inside K-12 schools as a means of preparing the students for academic excellence and college readiness. The grant’s high award amount means that the project can also hire an administrative assistant, graduate assistants, and student workers to help keep things running smoothly, and maximize the support that can be provided.

In addition to the student mentoring and outreach, the program will also implement robust parent and family resources to help more kids in rural communities move on to college. A small fraction of adults in the areas GEAR UP is targeted toward have obtained college degrees, so the program aims to provide assistance for parents who may have never been exposed to college applications, FAFSA applications, or college campuses. 

For more information about Tennessee Technological University, visit the school’s website.