The Regional Scholarship Program was established after World War II. Its beginning was “marked” by the opening of a Greek immigrant’s will, Stamatis Drakopoulos, a night watchman at Wellesley College in the USA, who allocated his entire life’s savings to fully fund studies at the College for a child from his village in Messinia.
Thanks to this unique Program, hundreds of children from around Greece, from mountain villages to remote islands, as well as from Cyprus, have discovered and taken advantage of the great opportunities for education, and subsequent professional development and social recognition, that can be acquired at the College.
After the closure of the School’s Boarding Unit in 1983, the Regional Scholarship Program was temporarily suspended. The institution was reinstated in 1989, with modifications to meet the new circumstances. From 1989 to 2020, there have been 17 Regional Scholars from Ikaria and Fournoi, Andros, Rhodes, Epirus, Eurytania, Messinia, Cephalonia, and Kalavryta with full coverage of their expenses (studies, transportation, living cost for them and their families).
Since 2019, the "Konstantinos and Rhea Nanopoulos" Scholarship has been established to financially assist a student who hails and lives in the broader region of Magnesia, in order that he/she may come and study at Athens College. Priority is given to candidates residing in Pelion, place of origin, and birth of the donor’s father and grandfather.
In the academic year 2020-2021, an attempt was made to expand the Regional Scholarship Program, and the "Ioanna Palaiologou" Scholarship was awarded to a student from the island of Lemnos. One more scholarship was awarded to a student from the region of Magnesia.
For the academic year 2022-2023, seven Regional Scholarships were announced and awarded to 11 students from Astypalea, Volos, Zakynthos, Ioannina, Karpathos, Corfu, Cephalonia, and Rhodes.
In 2023-2024, Regional Scholarships were announced for ten different regions and regional units of the country and scholarships were awarded to 8 students from Chalkida, Vasilikos of Evia, Aliveri, Chrissos of Fokis, Argos, Volos, and Tsagarada.
In 2024-2025, scholarships were awarded to 4 students from Andros, Amorgos, Volos, and Kos.