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Since 1967, Lyon College has offered an Upward Bound program, serving high school students in north-central Arkansas. The goal of this program, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Education, has been to increase the number of high school graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds who enter college and persist to become college graduates.

The APPLE (Accelerated Program of Personalized Learning and Enrichment) Project Upward Bound program works with eligible high school students who have the academic potential and the desire to succeed in postsecondary education.  The Project serves students from its target high schools in four counties: Batesville, Cedar Ridge, Midland, and Southside in Independence County; Newport and Tuckerman in Jackson County; Cave City in Sharp County; and Mountain View in Stone County.

APPLE students make a long-term commitment (from their 9th grade year through their summer of graduation from high school) to weekly school-year attendance for tutoring, mentoring, and enrichment and to the six-week summer program of college-preparatory and college-credit classes.

Through a 24-week Academic Session, a 6-week Residential Summer Session, and a Bridge Component for a select group of its most recent high school graduates, the APPLE Project offers college-credit and college preparatory courses; academic tutoring; learning skills development; academic advising; personal mentoring; cultural, social, and recreational enrichment; and an academic climate aimed at strengthening the students' sense of well-being and security within a postsecondary environment.

"This College considers the Upward Bound Project a worthwhile and needed program in this area. Many wonderful success stories attest to its benefits. Moreover, we have very skilled leadership that assures its vitality," says Dr. Walter Roettger, President of Lyon College.