Over 20,000 students provided a path to college

SAN MARCOS – More than 20,000 North County high school students got a better chance to succeed in college over the past seven years thanks to a federal grant to Palomar College that puts tax dollars back into the educational system.

The grant-funded program, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is intended to provide services to students beginning when they are in middle school and to follow them throughout their time in high school. The services included academic planning and career counseling, college visits and shadowing college students, mentoring, and...