Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarships available

Published or Revised October 17, 2008

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has opened the nominations process for the largest scholarships available to students and recent alumni from community colleges, including Paris Junior College. Through the initiative, called the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program, the private foundation will award up to $30,000 annually per recipient to help students and recent alumni from community and two-year institutions pursue four-year degrees at any accredited college or university in the United States and abroad. Last year, the Foundation received over 600 nominations for these awards. The Foundation plans to award approximately 50 scholarships through this program in spring, 2009. Awards are renewed each year based upon student performance. Current PJC students are eligible, as are PJC alumni who earned a degree from a community or two-year institution since spring 2004 and have not since transferred to a four-year college. To qualify, candidates for the scholarship must be nominated by PJC’s faculty representative for the foundation, PJC English instructor Toni McMillen (903-782-0450 or tmcmillen@parisjc.edu). “The deadline to begin this process is Friday, Oct. 24,” said McMillen. “So please get in touch with me quickly if you would like to apply for this scholarship.” While 45 percent of all college students in the US attend community colleges, few private funds are available to help top community college students transfer to four-year institutions, in spite of their high levels of ability and need. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarships can provide funding for tuition, room and board, required fees, and books for the length of the undergraduate degree, generally two years. Each award can total up to $30,000 annually, though the amounts will vary based on such factors as the cost of the institution each recipient attends. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to helping young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. Established in 2000 by the estate of self-made billionaire Jack Kent Cooke, the foundation focuses on high-achieving lower-income students from middle school through graduate school. Headquartered in northern Virginia, the foundation has helped thousands of students nationally since opening its doors through individualized direct service programs, generous scholarships, and grants to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. With an endowment of $700 million, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is one of the 100 largest private foundations in the U.S. For more information please visit www.jkcf.org.