GEARUP (Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness in Undergraduate Programs) is a federal college awareness and readiness initiative for economically disadvantaged youth administered through the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Post-Secondary Education. 

GEARUP SCORES! is a local partnership that delivers college awareness and readiness programs and services to a cohort of over 4700 Cincinnati Public Schools students currently in thirty (30) K-8 elementary schools.  This partnership is supported by a six-year, $18.4 million grant.
The primary partners in GEARUP SCORES! are:

• the University of Cincinnati (UC),
• Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS),
• the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative (CYC),
• Cincinnati State Community & Technical College, and
• Parents for Public Schools of Greater Cincinnati (PPSGC).

Partners providing additional support include The Enquirer, the Cincinnati REDS, and the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Partner for Achieving School Success (PASS) center in the UC College of Education Criminal Justice, & Human Services (CECH) serves as the partnership’s lead agency and provides administrative and fiscal leadership and oversight.  Dr. Steffi Cappel is the CECH PASS Executive Director, Bob Suess is the GEARUP Project Director, and Denise Hewitt is the GEARUP Program Coordinator.

Starting in January of 2009 with 5th, 6th, & 7th graders and continuing through the 2013-2014 school year when they are 10th, 11th, & 12th graders, GEARUP SCORES! will provide a wide variety of supplementary educational services to its cohort  of students.  The ultimate goal is for all students in this cohort to graduate from high school and from college or another post-secondary educational institution.

GEARUP SCORES! will accomplish this goal through:

• academic preparation of students in math, science, and literacy,
• active engagement of students in college-access opportunities, and
• support of parents, families, and students with resources that ensure students remain in school and develop the confidence, skills, and positive attitude to become college graduates.

Specific support services will include academic intervention, college awareness and advising activities, dropout prevention counseling/mentoring, and parental involvement training/support provided by a full-time staff of over 30 skilled and dedicated professionals. 

The GEARUP SCORES! partners previously collaborated successfully on the Cincinnati GEARUP Success Partnership which served more than 4,000 CPS students in grades seven through twelve from 2002 through 2008.