PPCC is the first college in the Pikes Peak Region to partner with Colorado GEAR UP, the state's program to prepare low-income students for college. GEAR UP, or ‘Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs,’ is designed to engage and enable Colorado's low-income and first generation students and to encourage and support their path to college access and success.

New this spring, PPCC launched the GEAR UP program with 40 students from Wasson High School. The students are taking PPCC Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) classes in Photography and Outdoor Leadership. GEAR UP pays the college tuition, and classes are taught at Wasson High School by PPCC faculty.

The students take the PPCC classes as part of their regular class schedule. This integrates the program seamlessly with their regular activities, without putting added financial or transportation pressure on families. The students will graduate from high school already having earned college credit, and will have gained valuable insight into the accessibility and requirements of a college education. PPCC is already preparing to work with seventh and eighth grade students at North Middle School, and plans are in the works to expand the program to serve students from other schools as well.

Beginning in middle school, Colorado GEAR UP students participate in a college readiness curriculum. Students are exposed to college resources, career exploration, and mentorship. At the high school level, GEAR UP provides students and families with the information, resources and academic support necessary to finish high school and gain admission to college. Those who successfully complete the program and meet certain qualifications will be eligible for a GEAR UP scholarship to help pay for their college education.

The local contingent working with Colorado GEAR UP includes Chelsy Harris, director of the PPCC Area Vocational Program and High School Programs; Scott Mendelsberg, Colorado GEAR UP executive director; Lance Jackson, Wasson HS GEAR UP site coordinator; Kathy Romberg, Photography faculty; and Brian Petzold, Outdoor Leadership faculty.

The “Colorado Achievement Gap”:  Colorado has one of the most highly educated populations in the country, but paradoxically, one of the lowest percentages of home-grown college graduates. Statistics show that only 39% of Colorado high school graduates proceed directly to college, only 17% of African American male high school graduates and only 9% of Latino male high school graduates do so, according to the Blue Ribbon Panel, 2001-2003, Colorado Dept of Higher Education. Additionally, a very high percentage of students require remedial classes in math, reading or writing.

The mission of Colorado GEAR UP is to close the Colorado Achievement Gap, as it relates to college admissions and graduation, to prepare all students to meet rigorous expectations and to level the playing field for Colorado's low-income students.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, GEAR UP is a national discretionary grant program that provides six-year grants to states and partnerships to provide services at targeted middle and high schools.