The Ramsey Honors Scholarship was created by the trustees of The University of Georgia Foundation in 2000 and is named for the university’s most generous individual benefactor, the late Bernard Ramsey (BS ’37), long-time chairman of the board of Merrill Lynch. Ramsey Scholars are selected through the Foundation Fellows application process.

This year's entering Ramseys had an average SAT score of 1522. Their average high school grade point average was 4.27 on a 4.0 scale, which indicates extra points for Advanced Placement classes.

The Ramsey Scholarship provides an annual $4500 stipend for in-state students (in addition to the HOPE Scholarship) and a $7,200 stipend (in addition to an out-of-state tuition waiver) for out-of-state students.

The scholarship also includes a $3,000 travel-study grant, which Ramseys utilized last year to work and study around the world in locations such as Morocco, Japan, China, New Zealand, Mexico, Tanzania, Germany, Costa Rica, and Spain.

The Ramsey Student Advisory Council has been the driving force behind the expansion of academic, cultural, professional, service, and social programming for the group. This programming increased peer and faculty interaction through dinner seminars, book discussions, cultural and service activities, an annual retreat, kayaking, peer mentoring, and opportunities to share travel, internship, research, and classroom experiences.

"Aside from the lasting friendships and memories of awesome excursions, the support from the Honors Program has made the year a thousand times easier. If I needed input on a scholarship essay, I had simply to go to the scholarships office for editorial advice. If I needed help in a course, there was invariably a student in the Fellows Library who had taken it. If I needed information about a particular organization, internship, or scholarship, older students could put me in touch with someone who had experience in those areas. The resources available to every Ramsey make our goals and dreams an easily attainable reality.” --Matt Sellers ’12

“Discussions of Zoya’s Story and Three Cups of Tea with the very bright Ramsey Scholars were highlights of my academic year. I loved the dinners at my house where the dozen of us – in lively conversation – gained insight into Afghanistan and Pakistan through those books.” --Dr. Betty Jean Craige, Director, Willson Center for Humanities and Arts

“My favorite activity last school year by far was serving on the Ramsey Student Advisory Council. I had a strong desire to take the opportunity to make this program our own while it is still pliable, and it has been a wonderful privilege to be involved in its evolution. It has been indescribably invigorating to be involved as the program has begun to congeal and a true sense of camaraderie has emerged among the scholars. This year unlike any before, new friendships have been made and old ones renewed. At the retreat, a resounding consensus was reached that this cohesion is what we want from our program and that we can make it happen. Time and again I have felt honored and humbled to be a part of such a fantastic, dynamic group of people, as well as both energized by the realization that something great is developing and a little sad that I will not be around another year to see it continue to grow.”
--Madison Moore ’09