Gear up fort wayne!

Fort Wayne Community Schools received a $2.77 million Project Grant award effective October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education under the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP, CFDA 84.334). This award supports a comprehensive suite of services designed to improve secondary school completion and postsecondary readiness among low-income students in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Services delivered through the grant include academic counseling, financial aid guidance, mentoring, tutoring, and scholarship assistance targeted at eligible secondary students, including those with disabilities.

The GEAR UP program funds six- to seven-year initiatives that encourage participating institutions to maintain sustained commitment to low-income student populations through direct support services, information dissemination about postsecondary education advantages and college financing options, and preventive interventions to reduce dropout risk and the need for remedial education at the postsecondary level. Fort Wayne Community Schools' award represents a one-year funding cycle within the broader GEAR UP portfolio, which has distributed $5.97 billion across 908 grants nationally since program inception in 2001.