Castleton University recently received word from the office of Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy that its TRiO Upward Bound program has been funded for five more years to serve 63 additional high school students in Washington County, New York attending the target schools of Granville High School, Hartford High School, Salem High School, and Whitehall High School.
In a joint statement Vermont’s congressional delegation of Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Congressman Peter Welch, praised the Department of Educations decision to make the competitive grant award.
“We are proud to know Castleton has, again, been recognized for its institution-wide commitment to excellence in educational opportunity. Castleton University is a critically important component of our state college system. Upward Bound provides challenging pre-college coursework and other college preparation services for low-income students and is one of the most important investments we can make as a state and as a nation.”
Castleton University has successfully managed a US Department of Education TRiO Upward Bound program since 2003, serving 63 students in Rutland County.
“The Upward Bound program is very honored to take on more students, and help them move on to post-secondary education,” said Castleton Upward Bound Director Jennifer Jones, adding that the new announcement allows the program to double in size.
Upward Bound is a federally funded TRiO program at Castleton that offers challenging pre-college experiences to students of high school academic ability from low-income families. The goal of the program is to generate the skills and motivation necessary for success in high school and college through a six-week semester residential program and an academic year component.
ABOUT THE CASTLETON UPWARD BOUND PROGRAM
Castleton Upward Bound, established in 2003, has served more than 200 local high school students. Since its inception, 75 percent of Castleton Upward Bound students have enrolled in college immediately following high school graduation, compared to just 35 percent of low-income Vermont high school graduates.