The United States Department of Education (USDOE) has awarded the Center for Pre-College Programs (CPCP) at New Jersey Institute of Technology two grants for its Upward Bound program.

CPCP received $503,928 for year one of a five-year continuation grant. It will enable the center to continue to serve 113 public-school students at Barringer Academy of the Arts & Humanities and Central, Marion P. Thomas Charter and Malcolm X. Shabazz High Schools in Newark. This grant has been serving the Newark Community for over 25 years. A second entirely new grant for $257,500, anticipated to be the first of a five-year grant program, will serve an additional 60 public-school students at Barringer Academy of S.T.E.A.M., East Side, Newark Vocational and Weequahic High Schools, also in Newark.

"This funding is incredibly important, because NJIT's Center for Pre-College Programs works annually to support more than 4,000 pre-college students who are predominantly underrepresented females and minorities from the greater Newark area -- a pipeline we must continue to expand if we are to meet the growing need for STEM professionals who are essential for economic growth," said NJIT President Joel S. Bloom. "Of those students served by CPCP, well over 200 from underrepresented populations enroll as undergraduates at NJIT each fall and pursue STEM professions."

Added Jacqueline Cusack, Ed.D., executive director, CPCP, "This additional funding allows us to expand our outreach to the secondary school-aged population of Newark to ensure that students have the requisite knowledge, skills, experiences and support to compete and achieve through their high school years that will, in turn, facilitate their successful transition to the higher education setting."

Upward Bound is a TRiO educational opportunity program funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. It serves ninth- to 12th-grade low-income students, between the ages of 13 and 19, who will be the first generation in their families to attend college. The program's goal is to increase the rate at which participants enroll in and graduate from institutions of higher learning.

Upward Bound is free and features an academic-year component that meets on-campus on Saturdays throughout the school year, as well as a six-week intensive, residential summer component. Students take classes in literature, composition, science, math, foreign language, art, computer science, architecture, psychology and more. Field trips are included as well, both during the school year and over the summer.

Another grant proposal for $250,000, to fund Upward Bound for English Language Learners, is still under review with the USDOE. CPCP looks forward to a favorable outcome.

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For more information on the Center for Pre-College Programs, visit njit.edu/precollege/ or call 973-596-3550.

About NJIT

One of the nation's leading public technological universities, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a top-tier research university that prepares students to become leaders in the technology-dependent economy of the 21st century. NJIT's multidisciplinary curriculum and computing-intensive approach to education provide technological proficiency, business acumen and leadership skills. With an enrollment of 11,400 graduate and undergraduate students, NJIT offers small-campus intimacy with the resources of a major public research university. NJIT is a global leader in such fields as solar research, nanotechnology, resilient design, tissue engineering and cybersecurity, in addition to others. NJIT is among the top U.S. polytechnic public universities in research expenditures, exceeding $130 million, and is among the top 1 percent of public colleges and universities in return on educational investment, according to PayScale.com. NJIT has a $1.74 billion annual economic impact on the State of New Jersey.