The University of Washington Bothell received a $115,000 scholarship grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation to help increase the number of students who succeed at becoming the first in their families to graduate on time from a four-year college.
The latest gift follows a grant of $100,000 last year for the initial cohort of Coca-Cola engaged scholars at UW Bothell. All but one of those students completed their first year with a grade-point average above 3.0.
The money provides each student a $2,500 annual scholarship for four years — $10,000 total. Officials believe the financial help can make a big difference when combined with the academic support from the existing Academic Transition Program.
The ATP students also benefit from UW Bothell’s First Year and Pre-major Program in which they attend Discovery Core classes. These classes enrich the student experience by integrating learning across a variety of academic disciplines, improving their academic skills and supporting their sense of belonging on campus.
After the first year programs, the Coca-Cola scholars can expect to take part in a high-impact practice available through the UW Bothell Student Success Center such as study abroad, undergraduate research, community-based learning or internships.
UW Bothell is a leader in the number of first generation students it admits – 49 percent in 2016. Nationally, the number of incoming first year, first generation students is about 30 percent, according to the federal Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics.
