Eligibility is determined by your family's income and your parents' education level. Students who are living in homes where no parent has a four year college degree are "educationally eligible" for Upward Bound.
If you are eligible by family income and/or by parent education, you may complete an application for admission to the program.
The application includes a Student Application which asks about your current academic and outside interests as well as your future career and education plans. We also request a four to five paragraph autobiographical statement.
There is also a Parent Application which asks about family size and income, parent education level and medical information. We also ask your parents to tell us a little about what they see as your strengths and weaknesses and what their hopes for your future are.
And, there is a School Recommendation section to be completed by your guidance counselor or a teacher who knows you. We ask for your current and past year transcripts, standardized test scores and rank in class.
When we receive your completed application, we will look to see if your current performance and future goals are a good match for UB. Applicants should have at least a 2.00 grade point average and be taking or commit to take a full load of college prep classes. After reviewing your application we will contact you to schedule an interview or to let you know we will not consider you for the program.
A staff person will interview you and your parents. At this time we will let you know exactly what Upward Bound expects of participants and you can ask questions to see if you are really interested. Following the interview, we'll let you know if you have been accepted or not.
College Preparatory Classes
- Language Arts At least four credits of English, speech, oral communication, literature and other college preparatory language arts classes.
- Mathematics At least three credits including algebra I, geometry and algebra II (pre-calculus and calculus are strongly recommended.)
- Natural Science At least three credits including mostly lab science college prep classes like biology, chemistry and physics.
- Social Science At least three years including history. Economics, psychology, geography and civics are also good choices.
Other You also need four more courses from the above areas (English, social science, mathematics, natural science), foreign language, fine arts, computer science and other areas. Having two years of a single foreign language is strongly advised and is required at some UW System universities.
For good advice and more information about preparing for college, go to the UW System "Gearing Up For College" brochure online.
| Size of Family Unit | Taxable Income |
| 1 | $15,600 |
| 2 | $21,000 |
| 3 | $26,400 |
| 4 | $31,800 |
| 5 | $37,200 |
| 6 | $42,600 |
| 7 | $48,000 |
| 8 | $53,400 |
| for each additional member add | $5,400 |
*Note: Effective February 2008. Taxable income is shown on line 43 of federal form 1040 and on line 27 of federal form 1040A for 2007 tax year.