A new scholarship opportunity will be presented to a Hampton University student thanks to Mary J. Blige.

WAVY-TV, in Portsmouth, VA,  reports Blige’s Strength of a Woman Scholarship is open to current female sophomore students enrolled at the Historically Black College and University (HBCU).

Offered in partnership with PepsiCo, the deadline to apply for the scholarship is Oct. 16, 2023, and the reward amounts to $30,000 for the recipient.

To be eligible, applicants must also plan to enroll full-time in the academic year 2024-2025, have a GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, and be pursuing a degree in business administration, marketing, arts, finance, or creative design.

Hampton University shared in a post on Instagram:

“Calling all Hampton University Sophomore women! Mary J. Bilge has established a scholarship just for you! PepsiCo, Inc. has selected Hampton University for a scholarship program to assist current college sophomores who self identify as female, and are planning to enroll at Hampton University 2024-2025 academic year.”

 

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A statement from the scholarship page reads:

“PepsiCo., Inc has established a scholarship program to assist current college sophomores at Hampton University, who self-identify as female, and are planning to enroll at Hampton University 2024 – 2025 academic year. The program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals.”

The winner will be announced in December 2023.

The news follows a donation of $200,000 from PepsiCo in May 2023 toward the Strength of a Woman Scholarship as well as to local organizations that aligned with the Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit, as previously reported by AFROTECH.

“To have Pepsi show up and show out in the way they do is overwhelming,” Blige said in a press release. “With their support for the Strength of a Woman Festival and Summit, we are able to pay it forward in so many impactful ways and to be able to grant an HBCU scholarship for a deserving student is nothing short of incredible.”