Missouri college grants

Six states were awarded GEAR UP grants to promote early college awareness in low-income schools, along with 39 grants to local partnerships. Through GEAR UP, grantees begin working with students no later than seventh grade to provide counseling, awareness, tutoring and other activities to promote future college attendance.

Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon and Pennsylvania received awards of approximately $2.5 million each. The District of Columbia's Office of Postsecondary Education will receive a $924,564 grant for the first year of its program.

New partnership grantees include Lawson State Community College, a two-year Black college in Birmingham, Ala., which will receive $511,920. Other recipients include school districts in Arkansas, California, Arizona, Florida and Washington as well as community colleges in California, Illinois, Missouri and Texas. For more information, visit the Web site at <www.ed.gov/gearup>.