Auburn car tags show Tiger pride while also providing education funding for the school's students. However, a portion of the profit made from the tags assists in funding freshman scholarships.
The License to Learn program has provided scholarship funds for Auburn University and Auburn University at Montgomery since 1998.
Through the program, the University receives $46-47 from each non-personalized tag and $35-36 from the purchase of a personalized tag.
The University has received more than $35.7 million since the beginning of the License to Learn program, which continues to increase education opportunities for scholarship-worthy students.
More than 1,000 scholarships were awarded last school year from the $1,931,000 in Auburn's License to Learn fund.
According to Velda Rooker, director of University Scholarships, the scholarships funded by the License to Learn program go to freshman with average test scores rather than the highest scoring students.
"I think more people would support the program if they knew it was raising support for the more average student," Rooker said.
Rooker sports her own Auburn tag in support of the Auburn Family and the scholarship funding program.
"I just think it's another way that the Auburn Family supports each other," Rooker said. "Whether you're in Georgia or Florida or further away than that, you see an Auburn tag and immediately recognize it and see that connection."
Rooker said she is confident the program will continue to be successful and provide an education to many Auburn students in the future.
Mariah King, senior in early childhood education, received a freshman scholarship that continues to fund her schooling.
Before learning about the License to Learn program, King said she thought her scholarship, and many others, came from donations.
"It's nice to know they were looking out for me before I even went there," King said.
According to King, her scholarship supports a large amount of her education at Auburn. King said she is thankful to be a part of the Auburn Family.
"I would love to (buy a tag) to give back," King said. "I think it's a cool way to give back to Auburn."
One purchaser, 82-year-old James Fleming, said he believes in Auburn and has helped fund freshman scholarships.
"I am a die-hard Auburn fan," Fleming said.
Fleming shows his love for Auburn by sporting his tag on his family's RV and plans on purchasing another for his car.
For Fleming, buying a car tag was a way to support the students instead of just cheering for the football team.
"When they started letting us buy tags, it was advertised that a good portion of that money went directly to the schools for scholarships," Fleming said. "It felt very good."
Some proceeds from the car tags program go to student scholarships whether they are personalized or not.
Visit auburn.edu/scholarship for more information on purchasing Auburn tags.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
