Coca-Cola is more than just a refreshing beverage for several thousand first-generation college students who’ve earned scholarships from the company.

Although Coca-Cola gives thousands of scholarships each year, TTU is the only higher education institution to receive an endowment for the First Generation Coke Scholars Program. Our current Coke scholars had the opportunity to tour the World of Coke and Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta on Monday, Oct. 16.

“These students are very appreciative of the support they’ve gotten in the form of this scholarship, and they were excited about the opportunity to see the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium firsthand,” says Kristie Phillips, director of annual and special programs.

“This is also an excellent way for us to maintain a positive and active relationship with a company that has provided such a substantial scholarship endowment,” she says.

Our relationship with Coke began in the 1994-’95 academic year, and we maintain approximately 24 Coke scholars each year. Each covers the student’s tuition and maintenance fees, which are currently about $4,700 annually.

Half of them are entering freshmen, and the other half are students already enrolled here. They may receive the scholarship assistance up to graduation if they maintain a 2.5 grade-point average and meet certain other criteria.

At the World of Coke, the students and accompanying administrators visited the world’s largest collection of memorabilia that celebrates the beverage created in Atlanta in 1886.

Although it was first served at a small pharmacy soda fountain located near Underground Atlanta, Coke is now served more than a billion times a day in more than 200 countries around the globe.

The Georgia Aquarium is located on a 20-acre site — situated just a few blocks from the Coca-Cola Company’s worldwide headquarters — that will also soon be home to the new World of Coke building, which is scheduled to open there in summer 2007. The aquarium opened last November.