Video game retailer GameStop on Wednesday announced a new scholarship program to help its employees send themselves or their children to college. The program is called "Power to the Scholars," a riff on the company's popular "Power to the Players" slogan.

Power to the Scholars, which will operate through a partnership with Scholarship America, Inc., acts as an extension of GameStop's existing employee-focused Gamer Fund (more on that later).

GameStop's new scholarship program will begin accepting applications on May 1. Employees and/or their dependents can visit this website to submit their application for the 2015-2016 school year. In all, GameStop will award 40 scholarships of $2,500 each, which comes to $100,000 in total college tuition aid.

“There's no better way to invest in our company than by supporting our employees and their families," Gamer Fund president Mike Buskey said in a statement. “The ‘Power to the Scholars' program will enable us to help employees achieve great things in their careers, their lives, and for their families."

In order to win a scholarship, applicants must have worked at GameStop for at least one continuous year and have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (or equivalent) on their most recent transcript. In addition, the following factors will determine who gets a scholarship:

• Financial need
• Academic performance
• Demonstrated leadership in school and community activities
• Work experience
• Career and educational goals

Scholarship recipients will be notified of their award by July 20. These scholarships can be renewed for the next academic year, provided the receiver still meets the above eligibility requirements.

GameStop also today provided a status update for its Gamer Fund organization. Since launching in 2012, the organization--which provides financial grants to employees who face unforeseen emergencies and hardship such as a death in the family or loss of home due to a natural disaster--has doled out more than $400,000 in monetary assistance.

You can read more about Gamer Fund at the organization's website.