GEAR UP encourages students to take advantage
of a unique program for eighth-, ninth- and
10th-grade Oklahoma students* that will help
pay for their college education if their family’s
annual income is $50,000 or less at the time
the student applies for the scholarship.**
The program is called Oklahoma's Promise.
To make sure students get ready for college while they are still in
high school, the program requires students to take certain high school courses. To be eligible, students will have to pass the required courses
and make good grades (at least a 2.5 GPA).
The 17 required courses include:
- Four units of English
- Three units of lab science
- Three units of math
- Three units of history and citizenship skills
(including
one unit of American history and two units from the
subjects of history,
government, geography, economics, civics,
and/or non-Western culture)
- Two units of foreign language or computer technology
- One additional unit from the subjects above
- One unit of fine arts or speech
Students will also have to show that they are good citizens outside
the classroom.
That means staying away from trouble like gangs,
drugs and alcohol.
O
nce a student reaches the program’s goals, Oklahoma’s Promise will
pay his or her tuition at an Oklahoma public two-year college or
four-year university. Oklahoma’s Promise will also cover at least a
portion of tuition at an Oklahoma accredited private college or
university or for courses offered at public technology centers
that qualify for credit from a public two-year college.
*Homeschool students and students graduating from a high school not accredited by the Oklahoma State Board of Education or a recognized accrediting agency must also achieve
a composite score of 22 or higher on an ACT test taken on a national test date ("residual"
ACT test scores do not qualify).
**In addition, the income of the student's parents (or the student if the student is
financially independent of their parents) may not exceed $100,000 at the time the
student begins college and prior to receiving the scholarship. This provision becomes
effective for students receiving the award in college for the first time in 2012-13 and
thereafter.
