Miami, May 3, 2017 – Miami Dade College (MDC) InterAmerican Campus accounting major, Reynier Montalvan, has been selected to receive a prestigious, national Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship to continue his upper division studies. In total, 22 MDC students have been awarded the acclaimed scholarship since 2002.
An MDC Honors College graduate, Montalvan came to Miami from Cuba just three years ago. After a year of hard work, including night school to learn English, he graduated from high school in the top 15% of his class. At MDC, he is president of Phi Theta Kappa – Beta Kappa Iota Chapter, which named him Member of the Year for 2015-16. He received a gold President’s Volunteer Service Award for completing more than 1,000 community service hours through several projects, including PeaceJam, Farm Share, Advocates for Immigrant Scholars, and BLUE Missions. He sees himself working for one of the Big Four accounting firms and plans to continue to collaborate with local and international organizations to address global challenges.
Cooke Scholars are selected based on high academic achievements and financial need. Nearly 3,000 college students applied for the 2017 Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, which is the largest scholarship in the U.S. solely aimed at community college students seeking to transfer to four-year institutions that award bachelor’s degrees.
This year’s recipients will receive up to $40,000 per year to cover their educational costs, including tuition, books, required fees, and living expenses, for the final two to three years necessary to attain a bachelor’s degree. In addition, they receive academic advising, stipends for internships, study abroad, opportunities to network. After earning a bachelor’s degree, each scholar may be also eligible to apply for a scholarship for graduate school worth up to $50,000 a year for up to four years.
Montalvan is among 55 winners from 19 states this year. View the complete list of winners at http://bit.ly/2pm6gXW.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Since 2000, the foundation has provided over $152 million in scholarships to nearly 2,200 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive counseling and other support services. The foundation has also awarded over $90 million in grants to organizations that serve such students. For more information, visit www.jkcf.org.
Since its inception in 2002, the Honors College at MDC combines a rigorous academic program with global perspective, leadership experiences, and enrichment opportunities that prepare well-rounded individuals who make an impact in the world.
The Honors College at MDC has set the bar and blazed the trail as “An Ivy stepladder,” as described in a major article in TIME magazine a few years ago. Its graduates have gone on to study at major colleges and universities across the country, and its newest students are poised to continue that esteemed tradition.