Morgan Stanley Launches Program to Provide Full Scholarships to Spelman College Students

ATLANTA, Oct. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Over the next four years, talented Spelman College students will receive full scholarships from Morgan Stanley, a leading global financial services firm. The Morgan Stanley HBCU Scholars program is designed to eliminate financial barriers to higher education for African American college students.

The $12 million initiative will support a total of 60 full scholarships for students enrolled in Spelman, Morehouse College and Howard University. Created to set scholars on a path to financial independence, the academic and need-based awards will cover the entire cost of tuition and living expenses for selected students across all disciplines and majors.

"The most significant challenge many of our brilliant Spelman students face is the financial barrier to college completion," said Mary Schmidt Campbell, Ph.D., president of Spelman. "Through academic research, innovations and advocacy, our students are already working on advanced solutions to some of the world's most difficult issues. We greatly appreciate the generous support from Morgan Stanley, which will allow our change agents to graduate debt free and pursue opportunities that will have a significant impact on society."

The first cohort will consist of a total of 15 scholars among the three schools. A new group will be added each year until the class size includes 60 students from all three institutions by the fourth year.

In addition to scholarships, Morgan Stanley will provide support for career readiness through its HBCU Career Preparedness Program, which will be offered through virtual and post-COVID-19 on-site components.

The programs are part of Morgan Stanley's newly established Institute for Inclusion, and support the firm's larger mission to create an integrated, holistic and transparent diversity and inclusion strategy both internally and externally.

"We look forward to this deeper journey with Spelman College through Morgan Stanley HBCU Scholars to support them in their mission to help level the playing field for Black students," said Susan Reid, Morgan Stanley's global head of diversity and inclusion. "To create a more equitable society, Black academic and economic advancement is critical and removing economic barriers to higher education can create an opportunity for students of color to thrive."

Spelman will invite students who have a demonstrated history of academic excellence to apply for the program beginning in the fall 2021 semester. 

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com

About Spelman College

Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College's picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.Ds in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The College's status is confirmed by U.S. News & World Report, which ranked Spelman No. 54 among all liberal arts colleges, No. 19 for undergraduate teaching, No. 4 for social mobility among liberal arts colleges, and No. 1 for the 14th year among historically Black colleges and universities. The Wall Street Journal ranked the College No. 3, nationally, in terms of student satisfaction. Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU, and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.Ds in economics. New majors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, and partnerships have been established with MIT's Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Outstanding alumnae include Children's Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, Starbucks Group President and COO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman's first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones. For more information, visit www.spelman.edu.

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SOURCE Spelman College