Two Baldwin County students have been named recipients of the 2026-27 Alfa Foundation Scholarship, part of a statewide program that awarded $1,000 scholarships to 100 students across Alabama this year. The awards recognize students pursuing higher education in their home state, from community college campuses to the state’s largest universities.
Marissa Anderson of Bay Minette, a freshman at Coastal Alabama Community College, and Cooper Long of Fairhope, a freshman at Auburn University, each received $1,000 to put toward tuition, fees, books or supplies as they continue their studies. The awards can be applied flexibly, an intentional design that acknowledges the full range of costs students face beyond tuition — from lab fees to textbooks to the tools required for technical programs.
The two Baldwin County winners represent the breadth of Alabama’s higher education landscape. Coastal Alabama Community College, with campuses serving the greater Baldwin County area, offers two-year degrees and workforce training that feed directly into the region’s growing industries, while Auburn University stands among the Southeast’s flagship public institutions. The scholarship program deliberately supports both paths, treating vocational-technical training and four-year degrees as equally worthy of investment.
This year’s group of scholarship recipients hails from 44 counties around the state and will attend 27 different academic institutions, according to the Alfa Foundation. That geographic spread was by design: program administrators aim to reach students in every corner of Alabama, from metropolitan Huntsville and Birmingham to small towns in the Black Belt and along the Gulf Coast.
A Program With a Track Record
Since establishing the scholarship program in 2014, the foundation has awarded a combined $1.25 million to students pursuing higher education in Alabama. Over more than a decade, the program has grown into one of the state’s most consistent privately funded scholarship sources, distributing awards annually to students whose families often stretch to cover the cost of college or technical school.
The program is administered by Kaleidoscope, an organization that manages scholarship and grant programs on behalf of foundations and companies. Outsourcing the application, review and award process to a specialized administrator allows the foundation to handle a statewide applicant pool efficiently, with standardized evaluation and timely disbursement of funds.
Alfa Insurance President Jimmy Parnell said the company remains committed to supporting Alabama students as they pursue degrees and technical training in-state. “On behalf of the Alfa Foundation, we are proud to support this outstanding group of students as they further their education within the state of Alabama,” Parnell said.
The emphasis on staying in Alabama is a thread that runs through the entire program. State leaders and employers alike have long worried about “brain drain” — the departure of talented young Alabamians for opportunities elsewhere. Scholarships earmarked for in-state institutions keep that talent home, where community colleges and universities feed graduates into the state’s healthcare systems, manufacturers, agricultural operations and Gulf Coast industries.
How Winners Are Selected
Scholarship winners were selected based on a combination of factors, including grade point average, participation in school and community activities, honors received, work experience and stated future goals. The multi-factor approach means the award is not purely an academic prize; a student who works part-time to support family, volunteers in their community and articulates a clear direction can compete on even footing with a straight-A classmate.
That philosophy reflects the foundation’s view of who the scholarships should serve. Many recipients come from rural counties where a single $1,000 award can close the gap between attending college and deferring the dream, and where students often balance coursework with jobs on family farms, in local businesses or in service industries.
To be eligible, applicants must be enrolled or planning to enroll full time in an accredited two-year or four-year college, university or vocational-technical program located in Alabama. The full-time requirement underscores the foundation’s focus on students committed to completing their programs, while the inclusion of vocational-technical schools aligns the scholarship with Alabama’s growing demand for skilled trades.
The application cycle draws hundreds of submissions each year from every region of the state. Reviewers evaluate each candidate against the published criteria, and the final slate of 100 winners is chosen to represent Alabama’s geographic and academic diversity — this year’s list spanning 44 counties and 27 institutions, from large research universities to small community college campuses.
For students and families weighing applications, counselors note that the Alfa program’s materials ask applicants to think carefully about their goals. The “stated future goals” component rewards students who have given real thought to where their education leads — whether that is a nursing degree, an engineering path, a trade certification or an agricultural sciences program.
About the Alfa Foundation
The Alfa Foundation is the charitable arm of Alfa Insurance, a Montgomery-based insurer with a long-standing presence across Alabama, including Baldwin County. Founded to serve the state’s farm families before expanding into a full line of insurance products, Alfa has deep roots in rural Alabama, and its corporate philanthropy reflects that heritage.
The foundation’s scholarship program is one of several philanthropic initiatives it funds each year aimed at supporting Alabama communities and expanding access to higher education for students who might otherwise struggle to afford it. Beyond scholarships, the foundation and its corporate parent have supported agricultural education, community organizations and civic programs across all 67 counties.
Insurance companies have a natural stake in the state’s long-term health, and Alfa’s leadership has framed the scholarship program as an investment in Alabama’s future workforce. Every graduate who stays in the state — whether to nurse at a rural hospital, teach in a county school system, work in an auto plant or manage a family farm — strengthens the communities where the company’s policyholders live and work.
What the Award Means for Baldwin County
For Baldwin County, the two local awards are a familiar story. The county’s schools have a strong record of producing scholarship winners, and its students fan out each year to institutions across the state — Auburn and Alabama, South Alabama, USA programs, and the Coastal Alabama Community College campuses that keep many local students close to home for their first two years.
Bay Minette, home to one of Coastal Alabama’s campuses, has positioned itself as an education hub in the northern part of the county, with programs tied to the region’s employers in manufacturing, healthcare and the maritime trades. Fairhope, on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay, sends graduates to universities statewide each spring.
For Anderson and Long, the $1,000 awards arrive at a practical moment. Freshman year is when textbook costs, fees and supply expenses pile up fastest, and when families feel the squeeze most acutely. Foundation officials note that even modest awards can prevent the small financial shortfalls that derail first-year students.
The foundation encourages Alabama students to watch for the next application cycle, which opens each year with details available through school counselors, the foundation’s partners and Kaleidoscope’s application portal. With $1.25 million already awarded since 2014 and 100 new winners added annually, the program shows no signs of slowing — and next year’s list of 100 will once again include students from Baldwin County and every region of the state.
Scholarships and Alabama’s Workforce Push
The awards arrive as Alabama continues a statewide push to raise educational attainment. For years, state leaders have set goals for increasing the share of residents with college degrees or industry-recognized credentials, aiming to keep pace with employers in automotive manufacturing, aerospace, shipbuilding, healthcare and technology that have expanded across the state. Private scholarship programs like the Alfa Foundation’s fit squarely into that strategy, closing financial gaps that state aid and federal grants don’t always cover.
Cost remains the most commonly cited barrier for Alabama students deciding whether to continue their education. Even at in-state public institutions, tuition, housing, books and fees add up quickly, and students from working families frequently piece together funding from multiple sources — Pell Grants, state programs, institutional aid and private awards like this one. A $1,000 scholarship often determines whether a student can enroll full time instead of scaling back to work extra hours.
The program’s support for vocational-technical training has grown more significant as the skilled trades face nationwide shortages. Welders, electricians, diesel technicians, HVAC specialists and industrial maintenance workers are in steady demand across Alabama’s industrial corridors, and technical programs offer a fast route into those careers. By treating two-year and trade credentials as equal to university degrees, the foundation mirrors the direction of state workforce policy.
Kaleidoscope’s role in administering the program also reflects a broader trend in corporate philanthropy: foundations increasingly partner with specialist platforms to run competitive scholarship programs at scale, ensuring transparent evaluation, secure handling of applicant data and prompt payment of awards to institutions.
Advice for Future Applicants
Educators who work with scholarship applicants offer consistent advice: start early, gather transcripts and recommendation materials well before deadlines, and take the goals essay seriously. Reviewers for programs like the Alfa Foundation’s read hundreds of applications, and the students who stand out are those who connect their coursework, activities and work experience to a concrete plan.
Applicants should also pay close attention to eligibility details. The full-time enrollment requirement and the in-state institution requirement are firm, and documentation of enrollment is typically required before funds are released. Students transitioning from high school to community college — like this year’s Baldwin County winners — are squarely within the program’s target audience, but so are current college students continuing toward a degree or credential.
For the 100 students named this year, the award comes with more than money. Winners join a cohort that now spans more than a decade of Alabama scholars, and many past recipients have gone on to careers in education, agriculture, engineering, medicine and public service across the state. The foundation counts that alumni network among the program’s quiet successes — a return on investment measured not just in diplomas, but in graduates who stayed and built lives in Alabama.