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PepsiCo Foundation Family Scholars
(formerly the ExCEL Scholarship)
Deadline to apply: February 10, 2025 3:00 pm CT

Guidelines Available in:

English    |    Spanish    |    French    |    Simplified Chinese    |    Arabic    |    Portuguese    |    Russian

Since 1996, the PepsiCo Foundation has awarded up to 400 new scholarships each year for postsecondary education for children of PepsiCo associates.This program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarship and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor, and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team.

Applicants to the PepsiCo Foundation Family Scholars (formerly the ExCEL Scholarship) must be:

  • Dependent* children, age 24 and under, of regular full-time or part-time hourly or salaried employees of PepsiCo Inc. Eligible employees must be actively employed in good standing, or on an approved leave of absence during the verification process. Executives in LG4 and above roles and eCommerce employees in C2 and C1 roles are not eligible.
    *Dependent children are defined as natural or legally adopted children or dependent stepchildren primarily supported by the employee (i.e., the employee must provide more than half of the child’s total support during the calendar year).
  • Students in their final year of high school/upper secondary school, high school/upper secondary school graduates, or current college/university who will be enrolled in full-time undergraduate study at an accredited college, university, or vocational-technical school for the entire 2025-26 academic year and are pursuing their first undergraduate degree.

Awards

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive an award up to $5,000 (USD). Awards may be renewed at the same level for up to three additional years or until undergraduate degree requirements are completed, whichever occurs first. Renewal is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance in a full-time course of study and continuation of the program by the PepsiCo Foundation.

Awards are for undergraduate study only.

Notification

All applicants will be notified in June.

Payment of Scholarships

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of the PepsiCo Foundation. Payment is made in one installment in early August.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • Academic record
  • Demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • Work experience
  • A statement of educational and career goals and objectives
  • Unusual personal or family circumstances

Financial need, as calculated by Scholarship America, must be demonstrated for the student to receive an award.

Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship America. In no instance does any officer or employee of PepsiCo or the PepsiCo Foundation play a part in the selection. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. All applicants agree to accept the decision as final.

As part of your application, you must upload the following:

  1. A current, complete transcript of grades (academic record). Transcripts must display student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.
    • Students in their final year of high school/upper secondary school and students who have not completed a full year of college/university must send copies of their official final grades/marks from the past three or four years of high school/uppersecondary school and copies of their end-of-year exam results if applicable.
    • Students who have completed one full year or more of college/university level courses should send a copy of their official college/university academic record for each year through the most recent grading/marking period.
  2. Required for U.S. students only: The first two pages of IRS form 1040 (Note: for security purposes, please white or black out all Social Security Numbers and bank account numbers).

Students must provide English translations for all non-English language documents. Copies of documents in original language should accompany all translations.

Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.

PepsiCo Foundation has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you the Scholarship America Student Hub!

Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address provided below in the footer as safe senders in your email contact list.