Coca-Cola Renews UA First Generation Scholars Program for Four Years With $1 Million Gift

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Coca-Cola Foundation renewed the Coca-Cola First Generation Scholars program at The University of Alabama for another four years with a gift of $1 million. The gift brings Coca-Cola’s contribution to the First Generation Scholars program, begun in 2006, to $3 million.

The foundation announced the gift Thursday, April 10, at a luncheon honoring current and past First Generation Scholars at UA. The scholarship grants $5,000 a year for four years to 12 deserving students in each undergraduate class. The recipients are the first in their immediate families to attend college.

“The University of Alabama appreciates the generosity of the Coca-Cola Foundation and the impact these scholarships have on our first-generation students,” said President Judy Bonner. “Not only do these scholarships make a difference in the lives of our students, these students will make a lasting and positive difference in their communities for the rest of their lives.”

So far, four cohorts of Coca-Cola Scholars have graduated from UA, and another four cohorts are currently enrolled. Out of the 48 scholars who have completed the program, 22 have gone on to graduate or professional programs, three in Ph.D. programs, four to law school, 14 to master’s degree programs and one to medical school.

“Without the presence of the Coca-Cola First-Generation Scholarship at The University of Alabama over the past eight years, the student landscape here would be very, very different,” said Dianne Teague, coordinator of the First Generation Scholarships program. “We would not have had the rich influence of these driven and determined young people on this campus. We would not have known their gifts. We would not have heard their voices on this campus.”

UA was the first public institution to partner with The Coca-Cola Foundation’s First Generation Scholarship Program in 2006.