The educational foundation of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers — the Foundation for Agency Management Excellence, or FAME — has announced that 46 college students will receive $5,000 academic scholarships, the council announced Monday.

FAME is a nonprofit charitable foundation that promotes leadership and excellence in the agency and broker community. To be eligible for a FAME scholarship, students must be college juniors or seniors with a 3.0 or better grade point average, have a declared major or minor in risk management and insurance, and have demonstrated financial need.

“The 46 scholarship recipients this year represent our largest class ever,” said council President and CEO Ken A. Crerar in a statement. “In addition to helping these bright, deserving students pay for their college education, we're also making great strides in getting more students to seriously consider the promising careers insurance has to offer.”

In a related development, FAME announced Monday that it has accepted a $125,000 donation from council member firm Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA Inc. to fund a new scholarship.

The $5,000 Wells Fargo Insurance Scholarship will be granted annually to a student enrolled in the insurance program at University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. The school's insurance program is ranked No. 1 in the country by U.S. News & World Report, FAME said in a statement announcing the donation.

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“The Wells Fargo Insurance Scholarship will have a lasting impact on developing the next generation of talent coming out of Georgia's Terry College of Business,” said Mr. Crerar in a statement. “Thanks to the tremendous support of our member firms like Wells Fargo and other industry partners, the brokerage industry and FAME are collectively making great strides towards helping bright, deserving students break into the industry and realize a promising career.”

The FAME scholarship program began with four scholarships in 2006 and has grown to more than 130 scholarships at 22 universities, including one international school, according to the council. The program is intended to encourage more young people to consider the field of risk management and insurance as a profession.