Cooke Foundation Helps Community College Students Transfer to Top Universities

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is committing $27 million to a new program that will help outstanding community college students earn a bachelor's degree from one of 8 top U.S. colleges and universities.

The 8 schools that are partnering with the Cooke Foundation on this project are:

• Amherst College
• Bucknell University
• Cornell University
• Mount Holyoke College
• The University of California at Berkeley
• The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• The University of Southern California

The University of North Carolina estimates that 225 students from local community colleges will have benefited from its part of the program by the end of its first 4 years. Figures at other schools vary, depending on the amount of Cooke Foundation support and the amount of matching funds provided by the school.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The foundation’s programs include the largest scholarships nationwide for community college transfer students, scholarships to graduate and high school students, and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need.