This is part of a sponsored campaign with DiMe Media and Coca-Cola. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
Even though we didn’t have money saved up for my college education, I was always encouraged by my family to go and get an education. There was financial aid available and yes, I went to school mostly on school loans. As my kids grow up, my husband and I believe it is so important for our kids to have the ability to go to college. And part of that will be scholarships, we hope! As a family with Latino background, family is important and we will do our best to help our children succeed. Even though our kids are still young, my husband and I are starting to devise a plan.
Autumn wants to be a geologist or a medical scientist, while Carter wants to be a teacher. Our exchange student Jelly wants to be an engineer, while little Lola wants to be a veterinarian. Our kids all have big dreams, just like my husband and I did when we were younger…like we all do.
Coca-Cola understands the importance Hispanic families place on education and is coming together again with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund to help Latino students achieve their higher education dreams and become future leaders. Coca-Cola is proud to continue a long-standing relationship of 35-years with HSF, the nation’s largest not-for-profit organization supporting Hispanic American higher education, helping Hispanic families prepare, plan and pay for college.
Coca-Cola’s #ForTheDream program empowers Hispanic families to prepare, plan and pay for their teen’s college education, and inspires Hispanic students to pursue their higher education dreams and become future leaders.
Although college enrollment has increased tremendously during the past two decades, this population lags behind other groups when it comes degrees earned. This might be fueled by financial pressure for some students to support their families before graduation. As part of its commitment to the Hispanic community, Coca-Cola HSF #ForTheDream National Scholarship Program aims to empower Hispanic families to put their teens in the fast track to higher education.
Coca-Cola is donating $150,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund to be awarded in college scholarships to qualifying students. Applications are being accepted until March 30th, 2016. Go to coke.com/ForTheDream to submit your application. Encourage your children! Encourage your friends!
While I know we still have a few years before our kiddos head off to college, we do have confidence that programs like #ForTheDream exist to help our children succeed. As Latinos, we take pride in our children’s educational success.
Kudos to Coca Cola for doing this. Every kid deserves to go to college.
It’s called student loans. Just like I did 🙂
I like that companies sponsor programs like this. Kiddos that don’t have the funds still deserve a college education.
I think that young people need to rely more on scholarships and less on loans. If these young people put forth some effort it will pay off with earning scholarships! It’s great that companies like Coca-cola are offering funds for students.
Coca-Cola is doing this. I also have the same hopes for my kids. My second oldest is in the 11th grade and just got inducted into the National Honors Society at her school. She plays softball is a majorette for the school band, she mentors freshmen and is my Assistant cheer Coach in the fall for the local youth football league. My hopes is that she gets enough scholarships to go anywhere her hear desires!
I know so many people who are worried about affording college for their kids. I love that Coca Cola is helping make it more affordable for some of them.
Luckily my sisters and I were blessed that our parents paid for our college educations, and my husband and I have been saving for our daughter since she was born. College is so important for our youth, but there are also student loans and scholarships available for many.
That’s great that Coca Cola is donating to help kids get to college. My daughter will be heading off in 1 short year, and we are hoping she is able to pull in several scholarships to help with the costs.
It’s great that Coca Cola started this to help students in need. Tuition is crazy expensive and the costs rise every year.
I agree. My son is in college right now and it amazes me how expensive it can be. I’m glad that Coca Cola is doing this to help some children achieve their college dreams.
That’s a fantastic program! College gets more expensive ever year, it seems…
It’s great that there are companies like Coca Cola that supports students. The college tuition fees increase every yhear.
The Coca-Cola’s #ForTheDream program sounds amazing. I have two kids in college and it is so expensive. I think all children should be able to go to college.
What a great program. More kids need to look for scholarships before loans, for sure.
Love that Coca Cola is doing this–more companies should follow their example. A college education is almost becoming prohibitive cost wise and that should not be!
This is awesome. Coca cola has always been one of my faves, and this just tops it! That’s super awesome. College is so important and it is SO expensive!
CocaCola is my favorite too. I love it when I see them creating programs like this.
It is great that Coca Cola has this program. It is crazy how much it cost to send the kids to college.
It’s great to hear of big companies giving back. I am happy that Coca-Cola is helping kids go to college.
College is so important and Coca Cola does a lot to help college bound kids. they do a lot for people all over the globe–giving back more than a lot of other corporations.
Glad that companies are doing this. Just wish that is was for kids of all backgrounds.
It’s good that your kids have big dreams! And that you and the hubby have awesome plans so you could help them reach those dreams. This is a good campaign from Coca Cola.
It is good to hear that there are ways to make college affordable for those who would otherwise miss out
College is very important, as a mother of four, one son got a grant and student loans, another went into the Navy and is now going to college through the GI Bill, another is still thinking about and my youngest will start at the community college next month. He wants to go to a private college but decided it was too expensive at this time and will start of in a different field and save to go to his dream college. I am sure there are many ways to go to college, but it is getting very hard to find a way to pay for college and not owe a huge debt. Good luck with your kids.
Such a great topics. I think i need to save for the future of my kids until they was in college
Because the educational system is different in the UK to the USA, I can fully understand the anxiety this would be causing. All you can do is support them the best you can, hoping they can get scholarships. I wish you the best of luck.
John
I hope all your dreams come true and that your kids have a prosperous life.
This is many parents’ concerns and in my case we had to go the student’s loan route.
I think it’s great that they are doing this for kids to go to college. There are more options now to make that happen than there used to be.
I’m getting ready for the future of my children. BTW It’s nice that your kids are dreaming big.
This is such a great campaign by Coca Cola. Hats off to them! I believe every child must be given the chance to achieve their dreams and I love that there are companies out there who are more than willing to invest in the youth.
Every kid deserves a chance at college, it shouldn’t be so hard to get an education and yet they make it really hard .
You can always send them abroad, The college education in the US is extremely expensive you can find great universitys in europe or elsewhere for a lot less money and it will also teach your kids how to be more independent and maybe learn another language
I agree with you about College – both my husband and my families were supportive of us going to college.
I would think it would be a strong positive to use your Hispanic minority background to your advantage in qualifying for college aid. It is very smart of you and your husband to start early on funding for this, including searching for ways to do so.
What an amazing and valuable program from Coca Cola! A college education should be accessible and affordable for every child!
We may have quite a few years before my kiddos are ready to head off to college, but starting planning and preparing for that expense is important to us. I want our kids to have the option of a college education.
Sounds like a wonderful program! Kuddos to my favorite soft drink!
It’s crazy how expensive it is to put a kid through college. I’m glad that there are resources like these available to support Hispanic families.
Every day I drink a Coca Cola and now I’m pretty glad that I do. I think it’s awesome that this company is stepping up and doing this for students. Every little bit helps & it takes a village. Kudos to Coca Cola. 🙂 I agree, what a great campaign.
Sounds great when a big brand like Coca-Cola steps in to do such awesome sponsor programs. I think every kid deserves a better education & this is going to help many of them.
It’s wonderful that there are these options for kids nowadays. College is necessary yet so very expensive.
College really is pricy! Thankfully my parents paid for mine. My daughter however Ughh… Hopefully she grows up to be a genius 😉
College is way too expensive!
I think you can consider a variety of options first college loans but i really think you can analyse the option of sending them to study abroad, they’ll learn how to be independents there are great universitys and for a lot less cost
Coca-Cola is such a wonderful company. I love that they are offering this program to help families with their children’s education.
I paid for my own college and I think it made me work harder for it. I worked hard and had scholarships, and so did the hubby!
Education is so important and I am all for an affordable college for anyone wanting to study hard. I am glad that Coco-Cola is helping young adults realize their dreams!
I think this is wonderful, I just hope that they continue giving out scholarships and grants to those who need. Everyone has a right to a decent education
What a great way for Coca Cola to give back. If the kids are willing to work hard we should give them all the help they need. I’m not sure who the “we” is but it should happen.
Your older daughter reminds me of an actress from some TV show, can’t remember the name!
You have an exchange student, that is so great!
I love that Coca Cola is doing this. My niece is in the process of getting to college and finding ways to finance it is crazy. Student loans today are not what they used to be. She got into an Ivy league school and might not be able to go because the amount of debt she would graduate with is ridiculous. Thank you for this post, I am sharing with her.
So great to see organizations like Coca-Cola helping. Its SO impossible to pay these massive fees/bills! Student loans are what most do – and then spend a million years paying them off!
Karen | GlamKaren.com
We are working to get out of debt now so that we can help Jett pay for school and he won’t have to go through what we went through!!
This is so cool! Although I didn’t finish college, I do plan on inspiring my children to go. It is so important these days.
Its so great that Coca cola is doing this for teens! I struggle with how I am going to pay for college and I have a steady job and a great support system!
I agree that every child should have a chance to go to college. I’m happy that Coca-Cola is taking a step to make that happen.
This sounds like such a great program! We’re expecting our first child in May so time for us to start that college fund!
Parents and kids need to rely more on scholarships and other forms of assistance than student loans. So I am always happy to see another company putting their money where their mouth is.
It’s something I think about every day & I have 1 kid. Love this approach to saving for college.
It’s great that big companies see the need to help their community, like cocacola. I was shocked when I learned how much Americans pay for college. Thank you Coco-cola.
I actually saw this commercial a few weeks back and was so inspired! I think it’s amazing what they are doing…education is power.
A college degree is vital in my opinion. I got scholarships, grants, and loans. My mom stressed college at a young age.
We have one who has graduated, one who is finishing her third year, and more to go. The two who have either completed or are still in college went with much more than half of each year’s expenses paid for with academic scholarship money,but they are still left with significant loans. We’re so grateful that they qualified for many scholarships, but college is extremely expensive. Every scholarship helps!
I think this is great that they are offering this to students. i think every kid should be offered the chance but they also need to WORK for it as well.
I am so glad companies provide scholarships and there is aid for kids in need. We have 3 sons and are saving up already.
Also, make friends with your child’s high school counselor. They can help lead you in the direction of more local scholarships and aid.
I like how you are planning for their future and researching different ways of doing that! I am so glad industry recognizes the importance of education and the cost of it, thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you found sources to help with college for your kids. I also like seeing a large profitable company finding a way to give back.
My oldest child is entering high school next Fall so we’re already investigating all of college options, including financial aid.
I definitely think college is important, but I also think getting out of college with no debt is really important. My husband and I both took out a lot of student loans to go to school, and we are still paying them off…a long time after graduation. Our kids are still very little, but our state offers dual enrollment in high school with the community college. I hope that they take that opportunity, to help knock out some of the credits they will need when they get to college!
I’ve worked in higher education for the past 19 years. The Hispanic Scholarship Fund has helped many of my students with scholarships. I’m so glad to know they’ve partnered with Coke!
Thank you for posting this article. It’s such a great idea to go ahead and start saving for college.
It’s never too early to start thinking about your children’s college. And rock on Coca Cola for starting such a great program.
I worked hard in high school to earn scholarships because I wanted to go to college. It was a great thing for my parents and me because I knew they weren’t stressed about how to make it all work. I’m glad there are a lot of different scholarships out there to help students from all over!
Omg! What a great program coco cola is doing!!! Every kid definitely deserves a chance to reach for there dreams!!!
My oldest son has special needs so we are unsure if there will be college in his future. I feel that it’s important for the opportunity to be available to those who wish to attend but I recognize that it’s really not for everyone.
I recently read that Coca-Cola is a 80 billion dollar company. I am glad that they spend at least some money helping others.
As a college grad who paid for her own schooling, it sucks to have student loans but it’s also OK because it teaches the value of a dollar and importance of education.
Great to see Coca Cola participating in the lives of future college students! It seems that there are so many more opportunities outside of applying for the traditional school loans than when I went to college.
College was very expensive and I know that I will have to pay for my education the rest of my life. I am trying to start a prepaid plan for my son.
College is definitely expensive … We are going the community college route and will upgrade later!