ALAMEDA, CA — Alameda High School student Ashley Chu is one of 100 high school seniors across the country to have been chosen as a recipient of an Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship. She'll receive a $40,000 scholarship paid in annual $10,000 increments to study computer science at the university of her choice, plus she'll have a paid internship at Amazon after her freshmen year of college.

Ashley learned about her win in the classroom. She was overwhelmed, but did manage to say, "This is amazing, thank you." The students were selected from 32 states across the country. They were chosen for their academic achievement, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, future goals, and diversity. All of the recipients demonstrated financial need and more than half of the students are from an underrepresented group in the computer science field.



"This is a huge help for all of these students about to start college," said senior House Education Committee Member Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC). "As a former professor, I know higher education is becoming increasingly expensive, and it's so important for students who need extra financial support to get that, especially if it helps them pursue a promising, rewarding, and in-demand field of study like computer science." "We are confident that these scholarship recipients are our country's next generation of world-changing inventors and leaders. They are an impressive, hard-working group, and we're thrilled to call them our first class of Amazon Future Engineer scholarship winners," said Jeff Wilke, CEO, Worldwide Consumer, Amazon. "This scholarship is a reflection of our appreciation for the work these students have done so far, and an investment in them and the future we all share. We are eager to see the bold paths paved by these students as college students, Amazon interns, and beyond."

Amazon quotes figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which projects that by 2020 there will be 1.4 million computer-science-related jobs available and only 400,000 computer science graduates with the skills necessary to apply for those jobs. Computer science is the fastest-growing profession within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field, but only 8% of STEM graduates earn a computer science degree. Rising high school seniors can apply for the Amazon Future Engineer scholarship starting in November 2019. Requirements for the Amazon Future Engineer scholarship include: completion of an Advanced Placement Computer Science course in high school, intent to pursue a computer science degree at a four-year college or university, and a teacher recommendation. Other factors that are taken into consideration: academic performance, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, a statement of career and educational goals, and diversity.