The Texas State GEAR UP/STAR (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs)–Students Training for Academic Readiness project–is a collaboration between the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the P-16 Partnership for Student Success through the College of Education at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, College Board, the National Hispanic Institute (NHI), and Fathers Active in Communities and Education (FACE).

One of the primary strategies used by STAR to address the program goals of GEAR UP is through an intensive multifaceted intervention plan in six selected high-need school districts. The project will initially target seventh grade students and will operate in an add-a-cohort model.

Each intervention is designed to address two overarching goals–to enhance the positive role educators, peers, families, businesses, and community groups play in a student's decision to attend college and to equip the student with the information and academic preparation required to succeed once enrolled. Each STAR partner was selected due to its established record of providing services, support, and increased opportunities to prepare targeted students for successful college experiences.

Six districts and communities have been selected for the intensive program. Brooks County, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Mathis, Alice, and Odem ISDs are characterized by high minority and economically disadvantaged enrollment, as well as low pass rates on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), the state's standardized assessment. The districts' students also have low participation and/or success in college preparation and Advanced Placement courses in high school, low admission and completion rates in higher education, and a lack of family and community resources to support participation in higher education. Four of the six districts support only one middle school and one high school. In Alice ISD (which only has one high school) and Corpus Christi ISD, one feeder pattern was selected for the project. This structure allows those associated with the project to focus intensely on a smaller set of students and personnel and will facilitate the incorporation of the program into the campus and district.