You’ve probably heard of the term Fortune 500 Company those companies that make multi-millions every year and are the top ranked in terms of profitability.
Fortune 500 companies are responsible for many of the things that you do every day car manufacturers, telecommunications providers, big box retail stores and soft drink distributors.
Fortune 500 companies are constantly striving to establish an identity or brand this means much more than just logos and advertisements and commercials. They want their potential customers to develop an impression of the company, and associate it with community and quality. This is why Fortune 500 scholarships are so important, and they make up a large part of the corporate philanthropy efforts of the major corporations throughout the U.S.
What can you expect from a Fortune 500 Company scholarship?
Most large companies that make up the Fortune 500 are highly visible in the day to day lives of most Americans corporations like Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola, and Exxon Mobil. These corporate giants not only hold a large part of the market for consumer goods, but they also employ many people across the country.
This means that their scholarships will be the most highly visible to a wide variety of students, and that competition can be tough. As with any scholarship program that offers free money for college, the more applicants there are, the harder it is to win an award.
The payoff is that many Fortune 500 scholarships offer much higher awards than smaller community associations or foundations. For example, some Wal-Mart scholarships are worth up to $13,000 per year, Coca Cola scholarships are worth up to $20,000 (for national scholars) and Mercedes Benz scholarships worth up to $10,000 per year. There are even some scholarships that give you some sweet stuff along with scholarships like the Apple Scholarships worth $2,000 in addition to offering laptops and iPods to scholarship recipients.
Some Fortune 500 scholarships are earmarked for certain students, and cant be applied for by just anyone. The Wal-Mart and Sams Club scholarships are intended to help employees and their children gain access to higher education, and are some of the most popular scholarships in the United States. Through the Wal-Mart Foundation Scholarship Programs (including the Wal-Mart Associate Scholarship Program, Wal-Mart Dependent Scholarship, and the Walton Family Foundation Scholarships) are offered only to people working at either Sams Club or Wal-Mart, and family members of employees. The Walton Family Foundation Scholarship has further criteria involving grades and test scores, and is worth up to $13,000 per year for undergraduate study. Wal-Mart also offers one scholarship to community members, the Sam Walton Community Scholarship, which is open to graduating seniors with a GPA of at least 2.5 and demonstrated financial need. The Sam Walton Community Scholarship is worth up to $3,000 per year.
The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation also targets multiple groups of students, but is not restricted to employees and dependents.
In addition to the generous scholarship program for undergraduate students worth $10,000 per semester for Regional Scholars ($20,000 for National Scholars), Coca-Cola sponsors a scholarship program for students attending two-year colleges through their Coca-Cola All State Community College Academic Team program.
Still other companies, like AT&T target even more specific groups and fields. In an effort to recruit more minorities into the Information technology fields, AT&T offers $3,000 scholarships in conjunction with the United Negro College Fund. These scholarships are targeted at students pursuing degrees in engineering, information technology and computer science.
As you can see, there are many options for scholarships through Fortune 500 companies virtually any type of student can find a program that suits them. Be sure to use the Student Scholarship Search listings here on FinancialAidFinder to find out more about specific scholarships.
Mercedes Benz Scholarships >>> (& Costco)