About the Bateman Scholars Program

The Bateman Scholars Program, named in honor of Dr. Mark Bateman, is an immersive educational initiative that assists, yearly, an average of 40-60 high-achieving Birmingham City Schools/Homewood High School juniors and seniors from under-resourced backgrounds in acquiring the knowledge, skills and resources they need to navigate the college-admissions process to find their best and most affordable college fit. The Bateman Scholars Program continues its support during college and/or graduate school for Scholars who attend schools countrywide. Program eligibility requires a minimum GPA of 3.70, a family income of $80,000 or less, and an in-depth application process. We currently have 173 students in our program (2 graduate students, 118 college students and 53 high-school students) which has demonstrated significant success. Although we started small, we currently have 8 college graduates, either gainfully employed or in graduate school. This number will grow exponentially as our larger classes start matriculating. Our Scholars, who have been awarded more than $86M dollars in scholarships since our inception, attend colleges and graduate schools in Alabama and throughout the country including elite schools like Berea, Boston College, Emory, Harvard, Notre Dame, Swarthmore, Tulane, Vanderbilt, University of Southern California and Yale. Our Scholars will be part of College Choice Foundation for a period that could span 6-9 years. We currently boast a 100% retention rate, no one who started college in our program has dropped out and only six students have transferred. Programming includes a laptop computer if deemed needed, counseling for college selection, 45+ hours of ACT test prep, one-on-one mentoring, college visits, interview prep, and financial-aid application assistance, among other supports in high school. For Scholars in college or graduate school, we help with certain expenses (e.g. textbooks, transportation, storage, tutoring, laundry, unexpected emergencies, graduate school application and enrollment fees). For more information about College Choice Foundation visit our website.