About the Brashier Scholars Program

The Brashier Scholars Program, named in honor of Mr. Keith Brashier, 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 nationwide. Program eligibility requires a minimum GPA of 3.80, a family income of $75,000 or less, and an in-depth application process. Over the past 11 years, we have served 283 Scholars. Although we started small, we currently have 35 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 $132M 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 1-8 years. 98% of our Scholars graduate college within six years, and 45% graduate debt free. 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.