“Purpose of Program: The GEAR UP Program is a 
discretionary grant program that provides funding for academic and related support services to eligible low-income students, including students with disabilities and English learners, to help them to obtain a secondary school diploma and to prepare for and succeed in postsecondary education. Under the GEAR UP Program, the Department awards grants to two types of entities: (1) States and (2) partnerships comprised, at minimum, of institutions of higher education (IHE)s and local educational agencies (LEAs). In this notice we invite applications for State grants only. We will invite applications for partnership grants in another notice. Required services under the GEAR UP Program are specified in sections 404D(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1070a–24(a)), and permissible services under the GEAR UP Program are specified in section 404D(b) and (c) of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1070a–24(b) and (c)). For State grantees, services must include providing financial aid information, encouraging enrollment in challenging coursework in order to reduce the need for remediation at the postsecondary level, implementing activities to improve the number of students who obtain a high school diploma and complete applications for and enroll in a program of postsecondary education, and provision of scholarships as specified in section 404E of the HEA. GEAR UP funds may also be used to provide a number of additional support services such as mentoring, tutoring, academic English language development, academic and career counseling, and exposure to college campuses.”
Excerpted from Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 47