Upward Bound II

Why an Upward Bound II?

The staff at the Upward Bound II at California State University, Chico have been frustrated for years in their desire to serve more of the many deserving students in the area. They recognize that in addition to the barriers to higher education faced by native English speaking, first-generation/low-income students in the area, ESL students face far more. The population from non-English speaking households in the target area, not to mention in California, has exploded in size. Therefore, when the opportunity came about to develop a second, separate program, the staff agreed to take on a large challenge in order to benefit more students.

Fact Sheet

CSU, Chico was awarded a second Upward Bound program in 1996 to serve a distinct English-as-a-second-language population. In 2012 this program was renamed Upward Bound II.  The change was made to extend our services to a larger student population, while still continuing to serve the ESL population. Originally serving 67 students, Upward Bound II will now serve 76 students from Butte, Colusa, Tehama and Yuba counties.

Upward Bound II is a year-round program for motivated students with academic potential whose native language is not English. Participants must have a goal of attending college. Upward Bound provides the following services to students:

• Weekly academic tutoring 
• Test preparation workshops 
• Parent workshops in their native language 
• Six week summer residential program 
• Leadership development 
• Laptop and equipment loan program 
• Assistance with A-G college prep course selection 
• Financial aid and college application assistance 
• College visitation trips
• Career exploration internships

Participant Eligibility

At least two-thirds of the participants must be both 
• low-income (family income within 150% of poverty--see "Low-Income Levels "below) 
• a potential first generation college student (neither parent with whom the student resides has a four-year college degree)

The other one-third of the participants can be either low-income or first generation college. 
Applicants must also be the following: 
• a citizen or permanent resident (must have a Green Card) 
• ages 13 to 19 (grades 9-11 at the time of selection). 8th graders are eligible to apply. 
• attending one of the following schools or planning to enroll in one of the following schools:

Annual Low-Income Levels for Participant Eligibility:

(Effective January 19, 2023 until further notice)

"For family units with more than eight members, add the following amount for each additional family member: $7,710 for the 48 contiguous states, the District of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions; $9,645 for Alaska; and $8,865 for Hawaii.

The term "low-income individual" means an individual whose family's taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount.

The figures shown under family income represent amounts equal to 150 percent of the family income levels established by the Census Bureau for determining poverty status. The poverty guidelines were published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Federal Register  on January 19, 2023 and are effective as of January 19, 2023."

(Source: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/incomelevels.html)