Referring a Student

There are several ways in which students can be referred to Upward Bound.

• students may be referred by teachers or counselors in target schools
• students may be referred by interested individuals in the community, including a student's parents
• students may be referred by students already in the program
• students may self-refer directly to the program

By far, the majority of referrals come from teachers and guidance counselors.

If you would like to make a referral to Upward Bound, the following is designed to explain our criteria for choosing students:

• students must attend one of our target schools (New Bedford High School, Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School, Wareham High School)
• students must be entering or in the 9th or 10th grade in the fall of the next school year
• students must be from either low-income homes or from families where neither parent has graduated from a four-year college. (Two-thirds of our students must meet both criteria; one-third may meet one or the other but not both)
• students must be able to demonstrate that they have the ability and the desire to go on to college
• students must have some need for Upward Bound and the services it provides; that need may be academic, social, economic or a mixture of all three

Keep in mind that low-income is not the same as poverty. The term "low-income family" designates a family whose collective income is within 1.5 times the poverty guidelines for a family its size. In other words, a family of four could be low-income so long as its taxable income for the previous tax year was not more than the amount listed for a family of four on the income table on the Prospective Scholars page. Our advice is to refer a student if you think he or she might meet the above standards and let Upward Bound make the determination.

You may refer the student directly to us by phone or e-mail or you may give the student's name to the guidance secretary in the student's school. Please indicate his or her year of graduation, a few of your reasons for making this reference, and a phone number or e-mail address where we can reach you if we need more information.

Click here to e-mail Upward Bound about a student

Thank you for caring enough to consider referring students to Upward Bound. If they attend they will know that you played a major role in contributing to their future success!