The rumored decrease in financial aid that was spreading across campus has recently been exposed as just that, a rumor.

As stated by Dan Garcia, vice president for Enrollment Management, in a previous article, the amount of scholarship opportunities available to students has increased. While there are multiple reasons as to why scholarship funding is going up, one of the most substantial sources of the increase has come from a recent contract that WTAMU has signed with Pepsi. The switch in brands will be offering more than just Pepsi soda for purchase.

“It’s not just a matter of Pepsi products,” Garcia said. “It’s a matter of teas, energy drinks and all kinds of other things. We also got it specifically put in the contract that we must have Dr. Pepper.”
According to Gary Barnes , vice president for Business and Finance, Pepsi will be paying $10,500 to $43,000 in scholarships. The contract has brought one decrease with it, however, taking campus marketing and promotions down from $20,500 to $13,000. Overall, the total annual contributions made to the University will be going up from $54,500 to $105,000 for the first year of the contract, and will then go to $90,000 for the next two to seven years.

Vending drink commission rates will increase from 24 percent to 25 percent and vending snack commission rates will decrease from 12 to 10 percent while commission rates for fruit and energy drinks will be 25 percent. Also, if you are looking for Vending machines for sale Gold Coast, Royal vending is the leading supplier of high quality modern snack, drinks and combination vending machines at the best prices.
If a student is in desperate want of a particular product not found in the vending machines, they can make a suggestion for the product that they desire to be included in the selection.

“I think that the people in charge of the products in vending machines would be glad to hear about what students would like to have available,” Jim Reed of Student Financial Services said.

The switch from Coca-Cola to Pepsi is not brand new to campus, and a survey was conducted before the switch was made to get a feel for what to expect.

“We made the switch last August, so it’s been in place for a long time,” Barnes said. “We did do a survey of the campus, just to get a preference for Coke or Pepsi, and it turns out that the faculty and staff were more interested in keeping Coke than the students were. Overall, the switch has provided more benefits to the University and its students.”