Exceptional High School Seniors Awarded $40,000 College Scholarship
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Announces Recipients of the Nation’s Largest College Scholarship
Lansdowne, VA — Today the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced the 106 recipients of its College Scholarship Program, who will each receive up to $40,000 annually to complete their bachelor’s degree.
In addition to the monetary award, these new Cooke College Scholars will receive comprehensive educational advising from foundation staff to guide them through the processes of transitioning to campus and preparing for their careers. The foundation will additionally provide opportunities for internships, study abroad, and graduate school funding, as well as connection to a thriving network of 2,300 fellow Cooke Scholars and alumni.
“High-achieving students with financial need are often deterred from applying to elite colleges and universities,” said Harold O. Levy, executive director of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. “And yet, the research clearly shows that when they are able to enroll in selective institutions, lower-income students are just as likely as their wealthier peers to be academically successful and graduate. We look forward to supporting Cooke College Scholars as they matriculate to universities such as Stanford, Yale, and Harvard.”
This year, over 5,000 students applied for the Cooke College Scholarship. Many of these students were identified through a partnership with the College Board, which connects scholarship organizations to students through their participation in the PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 10. The foundation evaluated each submission based on academic ability, persistence, leadership, and service to others. Engineering, political science and government, biological science, and physics are the most popular fields of study among the cohort.
A full list of the 2018 Cooke College Scholars, including the high schools and states they represent, can be found below.
Interested in becoming a 2019 Cooke College Scholar? Sign up to receive an email alert when the application opens in September!
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Amira Chowdhury — Herbert Hoover High School
David Garcia — Benjamin Franklin HS STEM Magnet
Jane Huynh — Mater Dei High School
Joanne Miao — The College Preparatory School
Candilla Park — Groton School
Tammy Pham — KIPP San Jose Collegiate
Grant Regen — Loyola High School
Navpreet Sekhon — Milton Academy
Javier Solis — Harvard-Westlake School
Claudia Zimmerman — Calabasas High School
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Guido Dominguez — Miami Beach Senior High School
Karen Gonzalez-Videla — Hillsborough High School
Olga Kiyan — North Broward Preparatory School
Khanh Nguyen — Middleton High School
Brianna Rodgers — Miami Senior High School
Cristian Rios — Okeechobee High School
Wally Vargas-Rios — Olympia High School
Georgia
Brian Kang — Chamblee High School
Jennifer Kwon — Phillips Academy
Neha Mohanty — Clarke Central High School
Ibum Obu — Pace Academy
Matthew So — North Gwinnett High School
Sabrina Yvellez — Chatham Hall
Melody Wang — Walton High School
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Abdurahman Donka — Phillips Academy
Kevin Galvan Cuesta — Glenbard East High School
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Massachusetts
Johannes Nightingale — Berkshire Community College
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Galven Edmonson — The Barstow School
Mouhamed Ndiaye — Gateway STEM High School
Jade Nguyen — Fort Zumwalt East High School
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Michael Codrington — Phillips Academy
North Carolina
Shiv Patel — North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Kristina Stuckey — Hickory High School
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Kendra Chaney — Stewart County Schools
Lucas Wiesemann — The Webb School
Texas
Alexandra Lozano Vazquez — St. John’s School
Bennett McCullough — Hendrickson High School
Emily Ndiokho — Phillips Academy
Havi Nguyen — Ross S. Sterling High School
Brendan O’Connell — Fort Worth Country Day School
Courtney Reid — Cypress Woods High School
Gerardo Segura — Phillips Academy
Ryan James Solis — Eastwood High School
Ashley Trube — Culver Academies
Paola Valadez — KIPP Generations Collegiate
Juan “Bryan” Valdivia — South San Antonio High School
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
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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, media@jkcf.org