High school seniors who have not yet graduated begin the application process between August 1 and October 31 of their senior year. To qualify, students must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA at the end of their junior year. Since there are so many applicants and so few awards, the program is extremely competitive; students hoping to earn a Coca-Cola scholarship must focus on earning the best possible grades.
From the initial applicant pool, the program review committee selects approximately 2,200 semifinalists. These semifinalists are then required to present a secondary application, including official high school transcripts, essays, and two letters of recommendation. From this group the committee selects the 250 finalists. In April, the finalists are invited to Atlanta to interview with the National Selection Committee. The committee selects 50 students as National Scholars, each receiving $20,000 awards; the 200 remaining students are named Regional Scholars and receive $10,000 awards.
Coca-Cola has also established the Coca-Cola All-State Community College Academic Team program, which awards approximately $450,000 in annual scholarships to community college students previously nominated for the All-USA Community College Academic Team. Students who wish to apply must also have a cumulative GPA of 3.50 at all colleges attended in the last five years.
Under this program, the top scoring academic team student from each of the 50 states is designated a a New Century Scholar and wins $2000 for college. Additionally, 50 students receive $1500 as Gold Scholars, another 50 receive $1250 as Silver Scholars, and another 50 receive $1000 as Bronze Scholars. Unlike New Century Scholars, there can be multiple Gold, Silver, or Bronze Scholars from any state. Finally, the program awards an additional 150 students designated as national finalists with $1,000. National finalists are named in multiple states.