Our Scholarships
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need.
$304
Million
Awarded in Scholarships
3,400
Cooke Scholars
Current Scholars and Alumni
$136
Million
Awarded in Grants
"The fact that I'm a minority scientist, the fact that I'm an immigrant, the fact that I went to a community college first," Alessandro said, "makes me want to also mentor those future scientists."
Alessandro Bailetti
After community college, Alessandro was planning on transferring to a good liberal arts school in Florida. Even when he found out he had been accepted to an Ivy League university, he thought he "wasn't good enough" for Cornell and considered rejecting the offer. Then he received the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.
"I [was] an immigrant with only five years in the United States, with good enough English to pass through my classes," Alessandro recounted, "but I never thought I was good enough for Cornell. When I got the scholarship, that was the moment I said 'I can go to Cornell right now.'"