Miami Dade College students have been awarded more Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships than those at any other college in America
MIAMI, May 18, 2016 – Three Miami Dade College (MDC) Honors College graduates have been awarded prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships worth up to $40,000 per year to complete a bachelor’s degree. This year’s winners are Juan Joel Albrecht from the North Campus, Yessica Maltes from the Wolfson Campus and Valentina d’Empaire from the InterAmerican Campus.
“Miami Dade College students have been awarded more Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships than those at any other college in America,” said Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Executive Director Harold O. Levy, who attended the award ceremony at MDC Wolfson Campus today. “It is no surprise when we see the quality of scholarship that these students possess. But it is not only for the quality of scholarship that they stand out, but also for their giving back and sense of social purpose.”
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is the largest private scholarship for colleges like MDC. This year, only 75 students were selected from a very large and competitive nationwide pool. All of the scholars selected have financial need and strong records of academic achievement as shown by grades, leadership skills, awards, extraordinary service to others and perseverance in the face of adversity.
The scholarships fund the costs of attending college not covered by other financial aid, plus academic advising, stipends for internships, study abroad, and opportunities to network with other Cooke Scholars and alumni. In addition, after earning a bachelor’s degree, each Cooke Scholar will be eligible for a scholarship for graduate school worth up to $50,000 a year for up to four years.
In addition, Santiago Tobar, a 2016 graduate of MDC’s School of Advanced Studies, a combined effort of MDC and Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS), received a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholarship, an undergraduate scholarship program available to high-achieving high school seniors.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. It offers the largest scholarships in the U.S., comprehensive counseling and other support services to students from 8th grade to graduate school. Since 2000 it has awarded about $147 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 students and $90 million in grants to organizations that serve outstanding low-income students. www.jkcf.org
Miami Dade College is the nation’s largest institution of higher education with an enrollment of more than 165,000 students. It is also the nation’s top producer of Associate in Arts and Science degrees and awards more degrees to minorities than any other college or university in the country. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree pathways including several baccalaureate degrees in education, public safety, supervision and management, nursing, physician assistant studies, film, engineering, and others. In fact, its academic and workforce training programs are national models of excellence. MDC is also renowned for its rich cultural programming. It is home of the Miami Book Fair International, Miami International Film Festival, the MDC Live! Performing Arts Series, the National Historic Landmark Miami Freedom Tower, a sculpture park and a large art gallery and theater system. MDC has admitted more than 2,000,000 students and counting since it opened its doors in 1960.