The University of Washington State GEAR UP Project marks its tenth anniversary this summer when it will host 400 high school students in four week-long college immersion experiences through its Summer Institute. Designed to encourage students to succeed in high school and support them in preparing for college, the Summer Institutes have served thousands of Washington State students since its inception in 1999.

“This five-day academic enrichment academy,” says Thomas J. Calhoun, Jr., Ph.D., Assistant Dean in the College of Engineering and UW State GEAR UP Executive Director, “provides many exciting opportunities for these students to experience college campus life. They become part of a community that supports them in their academic pursuits and will do all that is possible to help them reach their goals of a college education.”

Once students arrive on the UW campus, they are assigned to a small cohort guided by two outstanding undergraduate team leaders who are with them through all their activities. These team leaders provide mentoring to Summer Institute students as they negotiate campus and share their personal experience on reaching for a college education.

Learn more about GEAR UP:

• Summer Institutes
• GEAR UP programs
• UWeek article about our first 10 years