Student Union
Scholarship Awards Up to $40,000 Are Available to Transfer Students
Carmen Escudero, a second-year student at LaGuardia Community College in Queens, New York, said she would use the scholarship money she is hoping to win to pave her path toward medical school.
“It would help financially for my family and especially for me,” said Escudero, a biology student and member of LaGuardia’s Student Government Association, as well as several honors and research programs.
“I wouldn’t have to have so many jobs on the side to pay for school,” said Escudero, who immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia at 5-years-old and lived most of her life as an undocumented immigrant.
She is looking at the possibility of up to $40,000 annually in financial aid from the Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. It is awarded to students at U.S. community colleges going on to complete their bachelor’s degree at four-year colleges and universities.
Escudero is an example of 406 semifinalists from among 1,500 applicants competing for the nation’s largest scholarship for transfer students from community colleges, according to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in Lansdowne, Virginia. Winners receive personal mentorship about selecting a transfer college and navigating financial aid, in addition to up to $40,000 per year for tuition and other expenses.
Among the semifinalists, 29% are international students, says Giuseppe “Seppy” Basili, foundation executive director. To be eligible, applicants must be both living and attending community college in the U.S. Winners will be announced in early May.
“The Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is a highly selective scholarship for the nation’s top community college students seeking to complete their bachelor’s degrees at four-year colleges or universities,” Basili said. “The Foundation selects students that exhibit high academic ability and achievement, financial need, and qualities like persistence and leadership.”
Students often choose to start their higher education at community colleges because it is much less expensive than four-year schools, costing on average $10,000 per year compared with $25,000, according to Educationdata.org.
Community colleges are generally more flexible in scheduling, and for international students, some schools like LaGuardia do not require standardized test scores or English proficiency.
Community college students who transfer to four-year institutions have equal or higher graduation rates as students who enrolled directly from high school or those who transferred from other four-year institutions, according to a report by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. On average, they earn their degrees within two and a half years.
“The Cooke Foundation supports these students through the Undergraduate Transfer Program with the hopes that four-year institutions will see these students thrive and begin accepting a higher percentage of community college transfer students each year,” Basili said in an email.
The scholarship “might even allow me to pursue a double major,” Escudero said. “I’m really interested in chemistry, as well as my biology degree. And I could be more involved on the campus with that free time.”
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Trump administration opens antisemitism inquiries at 5 colleges, including Columbia and Berkeley
The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.
It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.
In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.
Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.
Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.
"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.
An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."
House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."
Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.
Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.
The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.
"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."
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