Gearing Up for College Planning

HIGH TUITION costs, confusing financial aid applications and a maze of academic requirements make applying for college an intimidating prospect for students. For low-income teenagers, especially those whose parents did not attend college, it’s too often a distant, hopeless dream.

Those who muster the courage to visit their guidance counselor usually discover a committed but overworked adviser with only a few minutes to spare. State funding guidelines only provide one full- time counselor for 400 middle school students or 350 high school students.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia has helped to supplement those efforts by offering tutoring, financial aid workshops, parental participation programs and summer college campus to needy teenagers in Southwest, Southside and Central Virginia through something called the GEAR UP program.

The program is funded through a federal grant. No schools in South Hampton Roads have been included in the effort, but the Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education is seeking a separate grant to fund 10 counselors in middle schools in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Accomack County. The counselors would be assigned to groups of low-income seventh-graders and would work with them until they graduate from high school.

In today’s economy, college is not a luxury for the elite few. Virginia’s community and four-year colleges offer an array of educational experiences to help every student achieve success in his or her chosen career.

The GEAR UP program opens up opportunities for students who might otherwise lack the knowledge and confidence to seek them out. Students in South Hampton Roads should have the same chance as others to turn their dreams into reality.

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