UNCF’s (United Negro College Fund) high-impact scholarship initiative, the Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) Program, has announced its final class of high school recipients. Included on the list is Westerville South High School Senior Eric Atta. He will attend Stanford University in California, where he plans to double major in economics and either symbolic systems or human biology. In the future he would like to pursue a dual JD/MPH degree and become an international human rights attorney. Cynthia M. DeVese, Coordinator of Minority Student Achievement for Westerville City Schools, said, “There is no doubt in my mind that Eric is well prepared for the academic rigor and student leadership that comes with being a student at Stanford.”
Each of the 1,000 students, who must demonstrate financial need, will be awarded a scholarship that can be used to pursue a degree in any undergraduate major and selected graduate programs at accredited colleges or universities of his or her choosing.
The GMS program is known for its recipients’ high graduation rates across the nation’s top institutions: a six-year graduation rate in excess of 90 percent, more than 50 percent higher than the national graduation rate for students of color and comparable to the success rate of students from much more prosperous families. GMS provides recipients with leadership development opportunities, mentoring, academic and social support as well as financial support. In addition, continuing Gates Millennium Scholars can request a fellowship for a graduate degree program in one of the following academic disciplines: computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science.
The class of 2016, who were selected from a pool of 53,000 applicants, will be the final cohort of Gates Millennium Scholars, as the program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation meets its goal of selecting 20,000 students from low-income backgrounds. UNCF will administer the GMS Program through its conclusion in 2028-29.
“The dividends from the foundation’s investment in the Gates Millennium Scholars Program have reached far beyond the students who have participated directly,” said UNCF President and CEO Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D. “It has strengthened UNCF’s capacity to create the next generation of leaders and allowed us to leverage other substantial gifts that will also positively impact deserving students of color from low-income backgrounds. Further, by changing deeply rooted perceptions about the educational potential of these young women and men – not just Gates Millennium Scholars, but all high-achieving students of color – the GMS program has greatly enhanced the value society places on them, not only as students, but as professionals, citizens and leaders. We heartily welcome the class of 2016 into the GMS family.”
Established in 1999 with the goal of developing Leaders for America’s Future™, the GMS program is funded by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, making it the largest single gift to a scholarship provider. Each year, the program enables 1,000 students who must be African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian American/Pacific Islander or Hispanic American to attend and graduate from more than 1,100 of the most selective private and public schools in the country. These include Ivy League colleges, flagship state universities, UNCF-member historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.
This year’s cohort represents 45 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Gates Millennium Scholars have been chosen for the Marshall Scholars, Rhodes Scholars, Fulbright Scholars, Gates Cambridge Scholars and White House Fellows programs.