Congratulate Texas Wesleyan’s Upward Bound Programs (UB) for not only securing a renewal of their original grant but also receiving the green light for a brand new grant. Housed on the second floor of the McFadden Science Center, the Upward Bound Programs have been a staple on the Texas Wesleyan campus for 13 years.

UB is a college preparatory program for high school students funded by the Department of Education and sponsored locally by Texas Wesleyan University. Upward Bound gives fundamental support to low-income, first-generation high school students by providing opportunities to succeed in their pre-college performance and, ultimately, in their higher education search.

Right now, the current grant allows Upward Bound to serve 62 students from three Fort Worth ISD high schools: Polytechnic High School, North Side High School and Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School. With the addition of the new grant, UB will have the opportunity to provide services to an additional 60 students from Dunbar High School.

“This new grant will allow us to work in collaboration with the Collegiate Academy at Dunbar High School to better serve those Dunbar students who, we hope, will eventually go on to graduate from Texas Wesleyan,” Director of Upward Bound Programs Fabiola Rodriguez, said.

Securing the renewal and new grant would not have been possible without the research input from Shawn Farrell, senior director of sponsored programs and foundation relations, and the institutional support from Dr. Ricardo Rodriguez, dean of natural and social sciences.

“The Upward Bound Program provides aspiring young minds a conduit to enter a realm where the great equalizer is education,” Rodriguez, said.

Both grants will afford the Upward Bound Program a chance to work with the students of Fort Worth ISD for another 5 years and guide those underserved populations into that realm of higher education.