- Lake County News reports
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Twelve years of Upward Bound in Lake County yielding significant results
The students began the Upward Bound program as freshmen and participated in the college preparation program and elective class for all four years of high school.
These low-income, emerging first-generation college students learned how to turn their dreams into a reality.
In fact, 87 percent of the 2019 Upward Bound seniors enrolled in college by August 2019 as college freshmen, with 55 percent being accepted to and attending four-year universities.
Upward Bound is a federally-funded outreach and student services program in the United States designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The services are administered, funded and implemented by the U.S. Department of Education.
Sonoma State was awarded this federal funding and administers the grant program in Lake County.
The Upward Bound Program in Lake County has undoubtedly changed the college-going percentage at Lower Lake and Upper Lake High Schools.
Upward Bound began at Lower Lake High School in 2008 and, since and, since then, has impacted eight graduating classes.
Program participants are tracked for six years following high school graduation and are expected to earn a degree in that time. In 2019, the first two cohorts of Upward Bound graduated from LLHS had reached that six-year mark.
While only 49 percent of low-income students complete their degree nation-wide (PELL recipients), 57 percent of these Upward Bound students had completed a degree. Program leaders said this is remarkable for Lake County, where the average degree completion rate is 16 percent.
After graduating from schools such as UC Santa Barbara and UC Merced, many students from the 2011 and 2013 cohorts have returned to Lake County as successful social workers, teachers and accountants.
The first cohort of Upward Bound graduates from Upper Lake High School will reach their six-year mark in 2020.
Upward Bound has high expectations for its newest graduates, class of 2019, who are attending schools such as UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Merced, Sacramento State, Chico State and many more including local community colleges.
Upward Bound program alumni and staff are working to create a nonprofit organization to give scholarships to Upward Bound seniors, for whom the finances of college are a serious barrier.
“These students have worked incredibly hard for four years to be accepted to a four-year university, and we do not want to see a lack of funds hold them back from achieving their dream,” said Program Director Shannon Smith.
For additional information or to donate to the Lake and Mendocino Upward Bound Scholarship fund, please contact Shannon Smith at 707-245-7972 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..