GEAR UP Alumni received support throughout middle and high school in the form of services. Those services include counseling and academic advising, field trips, and workshops on financial aid and college applications. However, after federal grant funding expires, GEAR UP students are left to navigate higher education on their own. Our organization works to maximize the investment in these students and take them to the finish line of obtaining a college degree and becoming much more valuable to the workforce as a college graduate. By ensuring students graduate with a college degree, we can directly support the efforts to bring equity and generational wealth to historically, under-served and under-represented communities.