Birmingham Promise scholarships will pay for tuition and mandatory fees at Alabama’s public two-year and four-year colleges and universities. The amount will be determined after other financial aid has been applied. As a recipient of a Birmingham Promise scholarship, you may also receive additional support services depending on your individual needs. You will be connected with a success coach who will work to identify and meet those needs.

You must first complete the federal financial aid process at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa. This will allow you to see whether you qualify for other scholarships and grants. Once that assistance has been determined, you can apply for Birmingham Promise at http://uweb1.unitedwayeservice.org/promise. March 1 is the deadline for the FAFSA application and for the Birmingham Promise application.

There is no initial grade requirement to receive a Birmingham Promise scholarship. Your GPA can, however, affect your admission to certain colleges. Alabama’s two-year colleges have open-enrollment policies and no minimum grade requirements. You should check grade requirements at other campuses as you go through the college application process.

Once in college, Birmingham Promise students will need to maintain acceptable grades to keep receiving tuition assistance. Those requirements are being developed and will be released soon.

Birmingham Promise scholarships cover tuition and mandatory fees at Alabama’s public two-year and four-year colleges and universities. However, as a recipient of a Birmingham Promise scholarship, you may also receive additional support services depending on your individual needs. You will be connected with a success coach who will work to identify and meet those needs.

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The Birmingham Promise will NOT cover housing, meal plans, books or other specific fees such as equipment for band, lab equipment, etc.

Birmingham Promise scholarships are available to graduates of Birmingham City Schools, starting with the Class of 2020. The Birmingham Promise is a new program in its initial developmental stages. We are excited about the future of Birmingham and our students. We are currently working with the private and public sector to raise the necessary funds and to create a framework to ensure the Promise will benefit students for generations to come. 

To be eligible, students must:

• Be a resident of Birmingham.
• Complete the FAFSA application to identify and secure other sources of financial aid. 
• Apply to and be accepted by a public two-year or four-year Alabama college before graduating from high school.
• Begin full-time college enrollment no later than the January following high school graduation. Graduates in 2020 must be a full-time, enrolled college student by January 2021 to receive a Birmingham Promise scholarship.

If you have questions about your residency and eligibility status for Birmingham Promise, please contact your school guidance counselor.

Birmingham Promise will cover undergraduate tuition expenses for up to four years in a public Alabama college or university.

Birmingham Promise scholarships can be used at any public two-year and four-year colleges in Alabama. Students must follow the normal college application process and be accepted by the school in order to receive tuition assistance from Birmingham Promise.

Here is a list of public colleges in Alabama:  

• Alabama A&M University https://www.aamu.edu/admissions-aid/
• Alabama State University https://www.alasu.edu/admissions
• Athens State University https://www.athens.edu/apply/
• Auburn University http://www.auburn.edu/admissions/attention-applicants.php
• Auburn University at Montgomery http://www.aum.edu/apply
• Jacksonville State University http://www.jsu.edu/undergraduate/apply/index.html
• Troy University https://www.troy.edu/applications-admissions/index.html
• University of Alabama https://www.ua.edu/apply
• University of Alabama at Birmingham https://www.uab.edu/students/admissions/apply
• University of Alabama in Huntsville https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate
• University of Montevallo  https://www.montevallo.edu/admissions-aid/
• University of North Alabama https://www.una.edu/apply/index.html
• University of South Alabama https://www.southalabama.edu/departments/admissions/applytousa.html
• University of West Alabama https://www.uwa.edu/apply

Two year campuses include:  

• Bevill State Community College https://www.bscc.edu/students/apply-online
• Bishop State Community College https://www.bishop.edu/admissions
• Calhoun Community College https://calhoun.edu/student-services/calhoun-admissions-records/5-simple-steps/
• Central Alabama Community College https://www.cacc.edu/admissions/apply/
• Chattahoochee Valley Community College https://www.cv.edu/apply-for-admissions/
• Coastal Alabama Community College http://www.coastalalabama.edu/apply/
• Drake State Community and Technical College https://www.drakestate.edu/admissions/admission-requirements
• Enterprise State Community College https://www.escc.edu/admissions/
• Gadsden State Community College https://www.gadsdenstate.edu/admissions-aid/apply.cms
• Jefferson State Community College http://www.jeffersonstate.edu/admissions/
• Lawson State Community College http://www.lawsonstate.edu/admissions_records/admissions_information/admission_procedures_for_all_students.aspx
• Marion Military Institute https://marionmilitary.edu/admissions/
• Northeast Alabama Community College https://www.nacc.edu/admission-financial-aid/admissions
• Northwest-Shoals Community College https://www.nwscc.edu/about-nw-scc/college-departments/student-services/admissions/apply-online
• Reid State Technical College http://www.rstc.edu/?DivisionID=23715
• Shelton State Community College https://www.sheltonstate.edu/admissions-financial-aid/becoming-a-student/
• Snead State Community College http://www.snead.edu/apply_today.aspx
• Southern Union State Community College https://www.suscc.edu/prospective-students/admissions.cms
• Trenholm State Community College https://www.trenholmstate.edu/future-students/admissions-records/apply-now/
• Lurleen B. Wallace State Community College-Andalusia https://www.lbwcc.edu/student-services/admissions
• Wallace Community College-Dothan https://www.wallace.edu/admissions.aspx
• Wallace State Community College-Hanceville https://www.wallacestate.edu/admissions/apply-online
• Wallace Community College-Selma http://www.wccs.edu/college-frontpage-home/admissions/admissions-application/

The class of 2021 should be working to complete the federal financial aid process (https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa) and the college application process. After completing the FAFSA process, students can apply for Birmingham Promise at http://uweb1.unitedwayeservice.org/promise. March 1 is the deadline to complete the FAFSA application and the Birmingham Promise application.

If you need help filling out the FAFSA application, here are some great resources: http://alabamapossible.org/programs/cash-for-college/cash-for-college-students/ and https://www.educationquest.org/resources/fafsa-tools/.

For the class of 2020, any students enrolled in Birmingham City Schools at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year can receive a scholarship if they meet all other requirements. 

Enrollment requirements for future classes are being evaluated. 

No. Birmingham Promise scholarships cover tuition and mandatory fees for up to four years at the undergraduate level.

As long as you can maintain your military service and meet Birmingham Promise eligibility requirements, you can receive tuition assistance. To receive a Birmingham Promise scholarship, you must be enrolled as a full-time student in a public Alabama college or university, and your college enrollment must begin no later than January following your high school graduation. If you are eligible for tuition assistance and can maintain full-time college enrollment in Alabama, military service will not keep you from receiving a Birmingham Promise scholarship.

You have completed all steps necessary to be eligible for Birmingham Promise in the fall. Please make sure that we have the correct school on file for you. Also, please respond promptly to any emails or texts you receive from Birmingham Promise as we may need some additional information to complete the verification process on your behalf. You may reach us at info@birminghampromise.org.

Each school has a different timeline and process for submitting invoices to scholarship organizations. For the Birmingham Promise, we anticipate receiving the invoices starting in August and continuing through the end of the add/drop period for each school. Once schools have invoiced Birmingham Promise on behalf of their student, they will update the student’s account. With each school, we have set up a process and timeline that will ensure that students are able to register for classes in a timely manner and will not be charged late fees. Students should expect their account to be updated no later than the end of their school's add/drop period.

For all schools other than UAB, Birmingham Promise is being processed as a vendor payment. This means that the payment may not reflect on the student’s financial aid letter, but it will show up on their account once it has been paid. 

Last-dollar means that Birmingham Promise funds are applied once you have exhausted all eligible public aid (i.e.Pellgrants or ASAP). For example, if your tuition bill is $10,000 and you receive $2,000 in Pell grants, Birmingham Promise will provide $8,000 in support. If you do not receive any public aid, you are still eligible for the Birmingham Promise and we will cover the entirety of your tuition bill. Additionally, if you identify outside scholarships that can be used for things beyond tuition and fees, you do not have to exhaust those funds before Birmingham Promise support applies.

The best way to get in touch with us is to send emails to info@birminghampromise.org. Emailing us allows us to keep track of inquiries we have responded to and those that require a follow-up. We recognize that many people prefer speaking to someone on the phone, so we established a hotline number for parents and students to call with questions about scholarships for the Class of 2020. That number is 205-843-5967.

Please do not be alarmed if you speak to someone at your school and they do not know about the Birmingham Promise. We are in touch with leadership in the financial aid and admissions offices of every school that Promise students have indicated they will be attending in the fall. However, some staff members may not be fully aware of the initiative at this point.

There is no initial grade requirement to receive a Birmingham Promise scholarship. Your GPA can, however, affect your admission to certain colleges. Alabama’s two-year colleges have open-enrollment policies and no minimum grade requirements. You should check grade requirements at other campuses as you go through the college application process. Once in college, Birmingham Promise students will need to maintain acceptable grades to keep receiving tuition assistance.

Here are some additional resources:

* Federal Student Aid Information Center –1-800-433-3243. (Students can call this number about their FASFA or federal aid such as Pell Grants.)  

* Student Loan Support Center –1-800-557-7394  

Expect to start seeing more information about scholarships for the Class of 2021 in September. Please check out our website for updates this fall and sign up for our newsletter.

If you have changed your mind about the school you want to attend or have not been admitted to your school of choice please let Birmingham Promise know ASAP by emailing info@birminghampromise.org with the subject line “School Choice Change”. We will be emailing all students who were not admitted to their school of choice, so please be sure to respond to all emails from Birmingham Promise promptly so that we can verify your attendance with the correct school.