The College of Engineering and Computing announced Feb. 6 a new program--Engineering and Computing Expanded Life Scholarships (ECELS)--that will cover tuition costs for 100 freshmen to be recruited this fall and in fall 2009.

The college has partnered with 10 corporate sponsors and more than a dozen individual donors to create a $500,000 fund that will supplement LIFE Scholarships granted to qualified freshmen. LIFE Scholarships, funded through the Education Lottery, cover most but not all of Carolina's tuition; ECELS will make up the difference for four years of undergraduate study, provided the student maintains a minimum 3.0 GPA.

The 100 students who will receive the ECELS will be in-state freshmen specifically recruited by the college.

"I was fortunate enough that my parents were able to send me to college," said Deepal Eliatamby, who owns a Columbia engineering firm and who earned bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Carolina in 1988 and 1989, respectively. Eliatamby has helped lead fund-raising efforts for ECELS. "By having support for their education so that they don't accumulate debt, students are more apt to stay in South Carolina and help our state grow."

The College of Engineering and Computing is engaged in an aggressive initiative to increase the size of its student body by 30 percent during the next several years. The fall 2007 freshman class grew by 6 percent over the previous year's enrollment.

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