Five years of scholarships make college possible for thousands of talented minority students.

2005 marked the fifth anniversary of the Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) program, a 20-year, $1 billion scholarship program for academically talented, low-income minority students. So far, the GMS program has awarded scholarships to 9,050 students. And in 2005, an evaluation found that these students are far more likely to graduate from college than their peers around the country.

We created the GMS program in 2000 because data showed that every year, thousands of qualified minority students don't go to college because they can't afford it. Administered by the United Negro College Fund, the GMS program provides what are known as last-dollar scholarships: GMS covers all costs not defrayed by financial aid. GMS scholars don't need to rely on loans or work study; the idea is to allow these talented young people to focus on school and graduate without debt. The GMS program also offers continuing scholarships to recipients who choose to pursue graduate degrees in fields where minority students are underrepresented.

The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has kept data on the Millennium Scholars since the program started. For the first cohort of students who received scholarships, the five-year graduation rate is 80 percent, well above the national average of 51 percent.