Students Begin 7-Year College Prep Program in Partnership With Local Organizations

MAPLE GROVE, MN--(Marketwire - Mar 27, 2013) - Seventh graders at Fridley and Robbinsdale Middle Schools just started a college preparatory program that will follow them all the way through high school and into the first year of college. It's called GEAR UP which stands for Gaining Early Awareness & Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.  Hennepin Technical College, Brooklyn Park Campus, and its partnering organizations, which includes TopLine Federal Credit Union of Maple Grove, applied for and received a GEAR UP grant through the U.S. Department of Education. 

The aim of the seven-year grant is to support student academic performance and assist with college preparation, enrollment and achievement. The grant tracks a cohort of students from seventh grade through their first year of college. The goal? To increase the number of students who are academically and financially prepared for post-secondary programs.

TopLine will help GEAR UP students and their families learn more about post-secondary education options, as well as preparation and financing. Recently, TopLine taught in-school sessions on finance basics to nearly seven hundred area middle school students, and hosted personal management sessions for parents at a resource fair in the Fridley school district. These sessions will continue on a regular basis for the duration of the GEAR UP grant, and will cover basic financial skills, highlighting the benefits of long-term financial planning and promoting the opening and management of savings accounts.

"When this opportunity arose we figured that if students and their families could make a seven year commitment then we certainly could, too, knowing that sometimes people need a little extra support with understanding the essentials of finance and navigating the financial system," said Harry Carter, TopLine President and CEO. "TopLine's role in GEAR UP is to help educate the whole family, and we look forward to witnessing the impact of this effort as preparations are made for childrens' lives from junior high school into their college years."

The Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) grant is a discretionary program designed to increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in post-secondary education. GEAR UP serves the entire seventh-grade student cohort at Fridley and Robbinsdale Middle Schools and will track and encourage that cohort through high school and into their first year of college. For more on the GEAR UP grant and other community and business partners visit http://www.hennepintech.edu/current/pages/826.

TopLine Federal Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesota's 13^th largest, with assets of more than $320 million. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit cooperative offers a complete line of financial services, as well as auto and home insurance, from its five locations -- in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Plymouth and in St. Paul's Como Park -- as well as by phone and online at www.TopLinecu.com. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott or Washington Counties and their immediate family members.