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Corinne Smith, director of Appalachian State University’s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) and deputy director of College Access Partnerships, received the 2025 GEAR UP Professional Leader of the Year award at a ceremony in San Francisco earlier this month, according to a press release.
GEAR UP is a grant program funded by Congress that helps students in low-income communities “prepare for and succeed in education and training beyond high school so that they can achieve their career goals,” according to the press release.
The GEAR UP funds help advance the state’s attainment goal, which aims for 2 million North Carolinians aged 25 to 44 to receive a high-quality postsecondary credential or degree by 2030.
Applicants select cohorts of seventh-grade students from low-income schools to receive a suite of support services from middle school through their high school graduation or first year of college, according to the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships. The program also helps schools create “college-going cultures” through professional development services and parental engagement programs.
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The Professional Leader of the Year is an individual recognized for their commitment to the program’s mission.
“I’m deeply honored to receive this award,” said Smith, speaking during the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships/GEAR UP Annual Conference on July 14. “It reflects the collective passion, purpose and hard work of the incredible team and communities I’ve had the privilege to work alongside in expanding opportunities for students.”
Smith has built “a bold vision for student achievement” across her 10 years with GEAR UP, according to the press release, inspired by her own experiences as a first-generation college student.
“This recognition is especially meaningful because it represents a full circle moment in my journey and reaffirms my commitment to expanding educational pathways for students like me,” Smith said.
Smith’s team has procured $90 million in grant funds over the past five years to support “student enrichment, family engagement and long-term program viability,” according to the press release.
Included in those $90 million are the two largest grants ever awarded to App State as of September 2024. The U.S. Department of Education awarded App State its largest ever grant that month, a seven-year, $35 million GEAR UP grant to the College Access Partnerships in the Reich College of Education, according to a press release. The previous largest grant awarded to App State was a separate GEAR UP grant in the amount of $29.8 million awarded in September 2020.
Throughout her tenure, App State GEAR UP has expanded its reach from 10 to 17 school districts, from 49 to 99 schools, supporting over 26,000 students in Ashe, Alleghany, Burke, Clay, Graham, Madison, Rutherford, Swain, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey counties.
Nationwide, GEAR UP supported 588,068 students at 3,137 secondary schools during the 2023–24 school year, according to the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships.
During the 2023–24 school year, App State used its GEAR UP funding to boost Algebra/Math I proficiency rates for students to 53.42%, a rate 16 percentage points higher than students not in the program, according to the press release. The grants also helped grow high school graduation rates to 95.85%, nine percentage points over the 87% rate for North Carolina students who were not in GEAR UP.
In 2019, Smith oversaw the development of the GEAR UP Guarantee, a new admissions policy that promises admission to App State for qualifying GEAR UP students, the press release said The policy has led to a 57% jump in applications and a 39.3% increase in enrollment from GEAR UP school districts since its creation.
“She’s not chasing one-off programs or short-term wins — Corinne is building an ecosystem,” said Cecilia Holden, president and CEO of myFutureNC, according to the press release. “Every grant she secures, every partnership she forges and every strategy she drives is grounded in the belief that lasting change happens when communities unite around a shared mission with students at the center.”
According to a 2024 press release, “App State has implemented federal GEAR UP programming nearly every year since 1999.” Throughout the years, “programming supported by the federal grants has provided a comprehensive range of services to low-income and high-need students, families, and schools throughout the Western region of the state.”
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