Over 500 Top High School Seniors Advance as Semifinalists for the Cooke College Scholarship

LANSDOWNE, Va., Feb. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has selected 578 top performing high school seniors with financial need to advance as semifinalists for its College Scholarship Program, the largest undergraduate scholarship in the country. The highly competitive scholarship will provide recipients with up to $40,000 annually for four years toward their tuition at selective colleges and universities across the nation.

More than 5,000 students with demonstrated financial need applied for the scholarship. Cooke College Scholars will be selected from the pool of semifinalists in April; last year, 80 students earned the award. "Far too often, students with high intelligence and abilities are locked out of elite colleges due to barriers related to access and affordability," said Harold O. Levy, Executive Director of the Cooke Foundation. "This is tragic, not just for the students but for our nation because it deprives us of the full measure of their talents."

Scholarship applicants hail from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands. A list of the semifinalists by state can be found here.

After graduating with bachelor's degrees, Cooke College Scholars may be eligible for a Cooke Graduate Scholarship worth up to $75,000. The Cooke Foundation also has scholarship programs for students from 8th through 12th grade, and for community college students transferring to four-year colleges.  Learn more about the College Scholarship Program and our other Cooke Scholarships here.

Cooke College Scholars are selected based on outstanding academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, service to others and leadership. Students must be current high school seniors residing in the United States. Scholarships are awarded without respect to religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, geographic region, race or ethnicity.

About the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
The Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Since 2000, the foundation has awarded $175 million in scholarships to more than 2,300 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive counseling and other support services. The foundation has also provided over $97 million in grants to organizations that serve such students. www.jkcf.org

Media Contact: Amber Styles
703-723-5647, [email protected]

SOURCE Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

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http://www.jkcf.org