The Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship is a private organization that offers a $40,000 per year scholarship, which covers living expenses, books and tuition to the students. The foundation offers the same scholarship for undergraduate transfer students as well as those who plan on transferring from a community college to a four-year institution. It is the largest private scholarship for high school seniors and community college transfer students.
Students from an accredited community college who are in their sophomore year are eligible to apply. A student must have a cumulative college GPA of 3.5 or above and a plan to transfer to a four-year college or university. The JKC Foundation looks for students who have an unmet financial need.
Katherine Oleson, the adviser for BC’s Phi Theta Kappa honor society, hopes to give more students information about the JKC scholarship. She advises students who are interested in applying for the award to “start the application early and not wait until the last minute.” Because the scholarship is highly competitive, she advises students to “showcase who you are and your goals and aspirations […] to let the judges see your passion and drive.” Additionally, students should get involved with the community and highlight the skills learned from overcoming obstacles. Students are also required to submit two recommendation letters from professors. Oleson encourages students to “visit instructors during office hours and engage in the material.” She also advises students to “ask if the faculty member is able to write a good letter of recommendation, ask early to give the faculty member plenty of time, provide a resume and brief bio to the faculty member and finally, say thank you.” Recommendation letters are incredibly important in such a competitive scholarship because it shows judges the student’s personality and work ethic from the perspective of a qualified instructor, said Oleson. The JKC Scholarship has an online application that allows students to sign up and apply. The application details required documents and students need to complete it by December 2 in order to qualify.
When Jack Kent Cooke, the founder of the scholarship, died in 1997, he allocated his fortune to establish the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has awarded more than $125 million in scholarships to 1,800 students.