In 1999, Fairmont State College (FSC) received a U.S. Department of Education grant to implement Project GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) in nine primarily-rural counties of West Virginia. GEAR UP encourages disadvantaged youth to have high expectations, stay in school, and take academically rigorous courses to prepare for college. Each year, incoming seventh-grade students and their parents are surveyed about their perceptions of and aspirations for students' postsecondary education. This report summarizes findings from the third administration of the surveys, in September 2001 at 29 middle schools in the region. Usable surveys were returned by 2,213 students, 1,921 mothers, and 1,300 fathers. Overall, students and parents had positive views of students' academic abilities and the effort they put into their studies. Despite parents' satisfaction with the amount of family involvement encouraged by the school, their participation in school-based activities seemed limited in scope. While students reported feeling fairly confident and successful about learning, they did not view their learning as particularly interesting or exciting, did not have opportunity for exploration, and did not feel that teachers valued their thoughts or feelings. Students' and parents' aspirations were high for students' postsecondary education. Students viewed parents and teachers as their best sources of information about academic choices. Very few students and parents had a realistic idea of tuition costs. Appendix contains survey questionnaires with summaries of item responses. (SV)