NIU’s Upward Bound Program, which provides college exposure to students who otherwise might not further their education, recently won the “Achievement of Excellence Award for Work Training,” honoring the summer Upward Bound session at NIU.

Upward Bound, a federally funded program in the Department of Education, was developed to identify students in low income and/or first generation families, and to prepare them for college education, said Tendaji Ganges, director of educational services and programs. First generation families refers to a family in which the student will be the first to attend college.

NIU’s program is entitled Project Access to a College Education. There are currently 85 students participating in Project ACE.

The program recruits students in 8th, 9th, and 10th grades from the Rockford, Elgin, and Aurora areas. A six-week residential program provides the students with intensive academic skills work in reading, writing, math, computer science and library skills.

During the academic year, students in the program are tutored and attend weekly sessions with counselors. “The staff works year round with the high school kids,” Ganges said. “‘Keep up the PACE’ is the slogan we use.”

Besides the intense summer sessions and counseling program, Project ACE helps students find supplemental funding.

Ganges said the number of students from the program that go to college each year varies. “On the average, 80 to 90 percent of the students go directly into colleges and universities,” he said.