UCBA Expands Partnership With Norwood Schools

Norwood City Schools and UCBA are building on their partnership through a grant from the State of Ohio that is designed to help low-income and first-generation college students receive the support needed to achieve success in higher education. 

The funding, which includes more than $1.5 million for scholarships over the next seven years, is through the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant.  Ohio is among several states to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education.  

The primary goals for GEAR UP are to increase academic performance, graduation rates, and enrollment in post-secondary education.  The grant also supports college preparation for high school students in a variety of ways, including helping students and their families understand their post-secondary options.

“This is huge,” said Rob Amodio, Superintendent of the Norwood City School District, which will receive the funding. “We have so many students who start college but don’t complete it because they struggle either with academics or finances and lose their way. This will help change that.”

As part of the grant process, Norwood Schools had to identify a college partner that would support the success of the grant recipients. The district already has a partnership with UC Blue Ash through the Textbook Scholarships program, through which the college provides all graduates of Norwood High School with a $250 scholarship for textbooks. 

“This grant will cement what is already a natural, positive, and productive partnership between Norwood Schools and UC Blue Ash College,” said Dr. Cady Short-Thompson, UCBA Dean.  “We look forward to more and more Norwood High graduates pursuing a college education with us at UCBA.”

The tuition scholarships through GEAR UP will begin in the fall of 2015.  Some of the other details with the grant and the timelines involved are still being finalized.