BOONE, N.C. — Thousands more middle and high school students in the North Carolina mountains will get help planning for college and careers after Appalachian State University landed a new federal grant worth $35 million.
The seven-year award from the U.S. Department of Education goes to the university’s Office of Rural Promise, which runs App State’s GEAR UP work. GEAR UP is a federal college-access effort that pays for tutoring, mentoring, campus visits, family outreach and teacher support aimed at getting more students through high school and into some kind of education after it.
This is the university’s second straight $35 million GEAR UP award. The new program, called GEAR UP APEX Northwest, started Oct. 1 and covers 11 school districts with 31 middle schools and 27 high schools, along with four partner colleges in the state. It is designed to reach about 14,000 students and their families.
Because the grant runs seven years, federal rules require that the final year follow participating students into their first year at a college or university, rather than stopping at high school graduation.
App State has run GEAR UP programs almost every year since 1999. Its earlier awards, $29.8 million from 2020 and $35 million from 2024, keep running alongside the new one through 2027 and 2031, and the latest money carries the work to 2033. Combined, the three grants now reach about 42,000 students in 22 school systems across the western part of the state.
The university points to results from earlier rounds. In 2024-25 data from schools in the program, 98% of students earned diplomas on time, against 88% statewide, and 97% were already on pace for graduation as ninth graders wrapped up the year.
University leaders said the grant expands the program into more western counties as the region looks for ways to connect young people with local career paths.
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