Building on the Oregon Student Assistance Commission's years of partnership experience with the Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon GEAR UP provides scholarships for GEAR UP students. Scholarships are drawn from a trust fund started with grant money from the U.S. Department of Education.

GEAR UP scholarships may be used at any accredited two or four year public or private institution in the United States and will be equal to the Federal Pell Grant award (but not greater than the total cost of attendance). Scholarship amounts will be adjusted for students choosing to attend college less than full time. Students maintaining satisfactory academic progress may renew their scholarship for up to twelve academic quarters, or the equivalent.

Each of the 16 GEAR UP clusters will select a Scholarship Selection Committee that will be responsible for awarding scholarships locally. At this time, scholarships are guaranteed for five graduating classes starting with the class of 2007 or 2008, as each cluster chooses. Scholarships will be based on:

	Financial need
	Standards profile
	Enrollment in college prep or other advanced coursework
	Participation in GEAR UP activities
	Behavior / attendance
	Bonus points

In addition to these large awards, each GEAR UP high school has started an endowment fund in order to provide perpetual scholarships for their graduates. Scholarships from these endowments will vary in size ($500 minimum) and criteria. High school counselors will have specific information.