Wegmans celebrates 40 years of Employee Scholarship Program

SYRACUSE N.Y. (WSYR-TV)– Wegmans is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Employee Scholarship Program.

The program began in 1984, and since then 46,500 Wegmans employees have been awarded the scholarship totaling $145,000,000.

The company expects to pay out more than $6,500,000 in tuition assistance to both new and returning scholarship recipients during the 2024-2025 school year. 

Mary-Beth Stalter and Bill Schmitt are among the 241 employees who received the first scholarships back in 1984.

Stalter — after receiving the Wegmans scholarship and taking home her diploma in January 1985 — today, oversees the team that awards and manages the scholarship program.

Stalter’s son was also a scholarship winner and worked for the company throughout high school and college.

“He is now the director of ecology for a lake association in Connecticut, but he had some great opportunities at Wegmans that were very meaningful to him,” said Stalter. “It’s very cool that Wegmans knows that not everyone is going to stay, and they still invest. They still want to be part of that story.”

Part-time employee scholarship recipients are eligible to receive up to $8,000 over four years and full-time employees can receive up to $16,000 over four years.

No limit is placed on the number of scholarships awarded each year and no restrictions are made on a student’s course of study.

Recipients may choose any area of study from an accredited college and enter into any field they desire upon graduation. Many scholarship winners are said to stay with Wegmans after college, continuing their career growth within the company. 

All Wegmans stores will host a celebration for this year’s scholarship recipients at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, when mini cupcakes will be served.

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