Upward Bound Math-Science with Carl Sandburg College is a federally funded TRIO grant that helps high school students to excel in secondary and post-secondary education. The program serves Abingdon-Avon, Galesburg, Knoxville, Monmouth-Roseville, and ROWVA school districts. Stephanie Woodard, Director for the program, explains the benefits:
“We are a college readiness program. We want to work with high school students and help them prepare for college. We want them to earn the best grades possible so that they can be eligible for the best scholarships possible. When we work with first-generation college students, we find that they don’t know a lot because they don’t know what they don’t know,” she said.
Students must meet three guidelines; they must be a U.S. citizen; they must be a first-generation college student looking to obtain a four-year Bachelor’s degree; and they need to be income eligible.
Woodard says the program primarily focuses on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, but realizes that some students in high school might not have a solid idea of what they want to do moving forward.
“We obviously want to encourage students to explore those fields, but we also recognize that a student in high school may or may not know what they want to do. They might be interested in that, but ultimately decide that they go to college for something else. I don’t want that to scare potential applicants away,” Woodard stated.
For more information on the program, call 309-341-5228, or visit their website at sandburg.edu/ubms.
written by Jackson Kane
