Upward Bound is a federally funded educational program within the United States. The program is one of a cluster of programs now referred to as TRiO, all of which owe their existence to the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (the War on Poverty Program) and the Higher Education Act of 1965. Upward Bound programs are implemented and monitored by the United States Department of Education. The goal of Upward Bound is to provide certain categories of high school students better opportunities for attending college. The categories of greatest concern are those with low income, those with parents who did not attend college, and those living in rural areas. The program works through individual grants, each of which covers a restricted geographic area and provides services to approximately 59,000 students annually. The program focuses on academic and nonacademic resources and activities like visits to museums or tutoring for school work. Students are encouraged to be involved in Upward Bound for the entire academic year and a 6-week long summer program. Many students who are also granted access into the Upward Bound program are labeled as first generation college students, who are students that are the first in their family to attend college. This program is set in place for students who come from low income families as well as underrepresented schools and gives them an opportunity to excel in college.

The program was launched in the summer of 1965 after the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (The Federal War on Poverty) during President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration, and was transferred to the Department of Education after the enactment of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The idea of Upward Bound came from Stan Salett, a civil rights organizer, national education policy advisor and one of the creators of the Head Start Program. Led, by C.T. Vivian, VISION informed the development of the fledgling Upward Bound program. Made possible by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and later strengthened by the Higher Education Act of 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's “Great Society” initiative, Upward Bound pilot programs operated under the direction of the OEO over the summer of 1965 before officially launching throughout the nation the following year. Like VISION, Upward Bound provides support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds in overcoming barriers to higher education. While the creation of Upward Bound is often attributed to federal employees like Stan Salett and Sargent Shriver, the OEO also sought external input in the program's early stages as Upward Bound took shape. The grant awarded to VISION in August 1965—while Upward Bound was still in its pilot stage—suggests that the OEO liked the model that VISION provided. Vivian often spoke of VISION as the prototype for Upward Bound, recalling conversations with individuals from Johnson's administration and stating, “I was able to get them to send people to every one of the cities and places that we had, that we had our students going.” ⁸ The end result was a program that looked a great deal like Vivian's VISION.Now under the direction of the U.S. Department of Education, Upward Bound still exists today, continuing to provide crucial support for thousands of low-income and first-generation college applicants each year.The experimental program was established as the country's first federal program to prepare low income students for college with the goal of helping high school students go from poverty to the middle class through higher education. In 1965, 17 Regular Upward Bound programs enrolled 2,601 participants. Since 1964 more than 2 million students have participated in Regular Upward Bound and 964 programs are funded with more than 80,000 students participating. Then in 1990, Upward Bound added an additional program called the Upward Bound Math-Science Program. It specializes in math and science skills for TRiO eligible students to improve their performance and motivation to pursue postsecondary enrollment. The 2017-18 annual data collected by the Department of Education on the Upward Bound Program reveals that currently, 84,934 participants were in the program and being served, this number includes the 13,392 who are in the Upward Bound Math-Science Program.

Grants are usually made to institutes of higher education (universities), but some awards have been made to other non-profit organizations such as tribal organizations. The Upward Bound Program selects those universities and organizations who receive grant funding based on their competitive criteria: Those applicants who demonstrate a Rationale; Applicants who meet student's social, emotional, and academic needs; and strengthens cross-agency coordination and community engagement to advance systematic change. Upward Bound grants are results-based, with the level of success determined largely from highly structured annual reports compared to grant objectives. As of Fiscal Year 2020, Upward Bound had an annual budget around $352,000,000. Each award made averages $4,691 per participant, with the most common award providing $220,000 per grantee in 2004 and $250,000 in 2007. Awards are for four or five years and are competitive. The law providing for Upward Bound is 34 CFR Ch. VI Pt. 645. As federal education grants, Upward Bound awards fall under EDGAR and OMB Circular A-21 financial guidelines.

The program is available to students after their eighth grade of school. Two-thirds of selected applicants must be low-income and "potential first-generation college students," with the remaining third of students meeting one of the aforementioned criteria.

Upward Bound programs may utilize two approaches to student preparation:

1. A summer program where high school students take college preparatory classes and earn work experience at a college campus for four to six weeks. Methodologies vary among summer programs, such as one based on Lancelot Hogben's social usefulness method as applied in the 1980s by an Upward Bound Astronomy program for Los Angeles County high school students, that subsequently evolved into a low-tech and low-cost method by Dr Daniel Barth at Mount San Jacinto College.

2. Weekly academic instruction and possibly tutoring with students throughout the school year. In the latter case, Upward Bound Programs are primarily located at various universities across the United States according to the demographic makeup of the localities served. However, when it comes to the activities and workshops offered many universities share them with community colleges. For example at East Tennessee State University, located in Johnson City, Tennessee, the school offers students the ability to enter into individual counseling sessions, ACT preparation courses; as well as participate in cultural events, field trips and classes in typical academic subjects. Likewise, at Washington State University, located in Pullman, Washington, the institution offers similar workshops and activities such as: basic academic subjects, SAT & ACT preparation courses, academic advising and tutoring; as well as cultural enrichment activities and individualized support. Furthermore, at the University of Central Florida (UCF), in Orlando, Florida, the school breaks down its Upward Bound Program into three sub-programs, with a great number of activities being offered in all three. These activities and workshops include: tutoring, basic academic classes, study skills, college readiness, cultural events, career exploration assistance, and college admission application assistance, just to name a few. Whatever the location or demographic makeup, the goal across them all is the same: to help better prepare those in high school for academic success at the college level, as well as to get better results on Advanced Placement tests taken while the students taking the exams are still in high school.

In 1990, Upward Bound added an additional program called the Upward Bound Math-Science Program. It specializes in math and science skills for TRiO eligible students to improve their performance and motivation to pursue postsecondary enrollment. The Upward Bound Math-Science program (UBMS) was created for students to have the opportunity to excel in the areas of math and science. Upward Bound Math-Science helps strengthen students' math and science skills, particularly those who come from areas that are underdeveloped. UBMS is a program that was put in place by the federal government and was there to provide not so fortunate children with the opportunity to gain knowledge from mathematicians as well as scientists who have experience in these fields. Students are in this program for 6 weeks and have coursework in mathematics and laboratory science, as well as literature. This program provides students with hands-on experience in labs and with fieldwork. The application process for UBMS is identical to that for Upward Bound, however the programs differ in that UBMS is more geared towards students who are interested in the fields of science and technology. UBMS increased the odds of a student taking a science course by raising the percentage from 78-88% in chemistry and from 43-58% in physics. UMBS has increased the likelihood that children will achieve more in math and science and increase that drive to further their interests in college. UBMS has also raised GPAs in math classes for African-Americans as well as Hispanics.