Gear up northeast ohio (GU-NEO) (FY26-32 gear up partnership project)

GEAR UP Northeast Ohio Project Grant Summary

The Educational Service Center of Cuyahoga County received a $1.66 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) partnership grant program. This award supports a comprehensive, regionally coordinated initiative designed to improve secondary school completion and postsecondary readiness for low-income students across the greater Cleveland metropolitan area and surrounding First Ring suburbs in northeastern Ohio.

Under this grant, the organization delivers academic counseling, financial aid guidance, mentoring, tutoring, and scholarship assistance to economically disadvantaged and at-risk students in K-12 schools across multiple Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga County. The GEAR UP Northeast Ohio project operates as a partnership combining local educational agencies and degree-granting institutions of higher education, providing the full range of services intended by the GEAR UP program: academic support, financial information, outreach, and supportive services to reduce school dropout risk and prepare eligible students for success in postsecondary education.