CLU's Math/Science Upward Bound receives grant

The Upward Bound Math and Science Regional Center at California Lutheran University has received a $1.19 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to fund the program for the next four years.

The Math/Science Upward Bound Program is designed to prepare low-income students who would be the first generation in their family to go to college to pursue higher education with a strong focus in fields such as engineering and sports medicine.

As the only Math and Science Regional Center in California, CLU’s program draws students from throughout the state and beyond. Recent participants in the residential summer program have come from as far away as Hawaii, Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia.

More than 85 percent of the students who participate in the Math/Science program go on to graduate from a four–year college or university, said Interim Director Sergio Galvez, a 1999 graduate of CLU’s Traditional Upward Bound Program.

Both the Traditional and Math/Science programs at CLU have a summer component, which enables students to take challenging courses while living on campus, and an academic-year element, which provides resources such as weekend classes, tutoring and advisement for students and their parents.

In recent years, Upward Bound and other Federal TRIO Programs established by Congress to help disadvantaged students enter and graduate from college have been targeted for elimination from the national budget. But advocacy efforts have resulted in a 3 percent increase in funding this year to qualified programs such as those at CLU.

For more information on CLU’s Upward Bound programs, contact Galvez at (805) 493-3292 or sgalvez@callutheran.edu.