Wayne State University’s ability to reach southwest Detroit students and offer academic programming to boost high school success, college enrollment and postsecondary graduation has been enhanced through a $263,937 federal TRIO grant worth an anticipated $1,319,685 over a five-year period, from 2017-22.

The grant will fund a new Upward Bound program at Wayne State, which will be administered by the bilingual education program in the College of Education’s Teacher Education Division. With the addition of this program, Wayne State will be the only university in Michigan with two traditional Federal TRIO Upward Bound pre-college student success programs.

"Since Upward Bound serves students from the beginning of high school through college graduation, two programs will allow Wayne State to have a greater impact on the young people of Detroit,” said Sandra M. Gonzales, assistant professor of bilingual education at Wayne State.

Upward Bound students and families will receive services such as after-school tutoring, skill-building workshops, academic advising, family support, college and career assistance, standardized test preparation, a six-week academic summer enrichment experience, field trips, college campus tours, and leadership conferences designed to prepare students for college and lifelong success. Upward Bound has the unique capacity to support dual-language programming and build upon the linguistic strengths of Detroit’s multilingual students and families.

“Upward Bound is a renewable grant that will enable us to establish enduring relationships with area schools, teachers and students. The data collected will not only benefit local communities but will also further our research mission and help demonstrate that Wayne State is a university of opportunity for all," said Gonzales.