Le Moyne's Upward Bound Program - one of only five in the nation still in existence from a pilot program that began in 1965 - will be funded for the next five years thanks to a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The program will help 84 students at PSLA at Fowler, Corcoran, Henninger and Nottingham high schools prepare and graduate from college.
"We are so grateful that this mission-driven program will be funded for the next five years,” said President Linda LeMura. "I'd like to acknowledge Steve Kulick and Lisa Lessun in advancement, and Upward Bound Director Kenyon Black, for their work on securing this grant, and to Kenyon and everyone in the Upward Bound Program for their expertise and dedication working with students."
Today, nearly 1,000 Upward Bound programs are funded at colleges and universities nationwide, with more than 62,000 students currently participating. As mandated by Congress, two-thirds of Upward Boundstudents served must come from families with incomes at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and in which neither parent graduated from college. Besides Le Moyne, the only other programs still operating from the original 17 pilot programs are Howard University, Dillard University, Columbia University and Texas Southern University.
The program partners with colleges to expose students to college and prepare them for the challenges of higher education. Students between the ages of 13 and 18 received instruction in college readiness, literature, composition, mathematics and science. It is run on campuses after school, on Saturdays and during the summer (students involved with Le Moyne’s program actually live on campus for several weeks over the summer.)