GEAR UP is a national effort to encourage more young people to have high expectations, stay in school, study hard and go to college. Through the Board of Higher Education, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts received a GEAR UP State Grant to provide early college awareness activities, improved academic support, information on paying for college and the GEAR UP Scholarship for students who participated in a component of the GEAR UP Massachusetts Early Intervention initiative.

The John and Abigail Adams Scholarship is a merit-based program that provides a tuition waiver for up to eight semesters of undergraduate education at a Massachusetts state college or university. For this scholarship, merit is based on student scores on the 10th grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test.

The John and Abigail Adams Scholarship provides a tuition waiver for up to eight semesters of undergraduate education at a Massachusetts state college or university.

The Paul Tsongas Scholarship is a merit-based program that rewards Massachusetts students with a grade point average (G.P.A.) of 3.75 and highly competitive Scholastic Aptitude Test (S.A.T.) scores of at least 1200 (or the American College Testing [A.C.T.] equivalent). Eligible students receive a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees at a Massachusetts state university. Each of the nine (9) Massachusetts state universities may provide five new Paul Tsongas Scholarship Program Tuition Waivers per academic year.