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10-27-2006 : LARGEST SCHOLARSHIP FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS AND RECENT ALUMNI OFFERED

LANSDOWNE, VA – The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has opened the nominations process for the largest scholarships available to students and recent alumni from community colleges. This initiative includes exceptional Victor Valley College student nominations that have a financial need. Through the initiative, called the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program, the private foundation will award up to $30,000 annually per recipient to help students and recent alumni from community and two-year institutions pursue four-year degrees at any accredited college or university in the United States and abroad. Last year, the Foundation received nearly 700 nominations for these awards.

While 45 percent of all college students in the US attend community colleges, few private funds are available to help these students transfer to four-year institutions, in spite of their high levels of ability and need. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarships can provide funding for tuition, room and board, required fees, and books for the length of the undergraduate degree, generally two years. Each award can total up to $30,000 annually, though the amounts will vary based on such factors as the cost of the institution each recipient attends.

The Foundation plans to award approximately 50 scholarships through this program in spring, 2007. It will renew each year based upon student performance. Current students are eligible, as are alumni who earned a degree from a community or two-year institution since May 2002 and have not since transferred to a four-year college. All candidates for the scholarship must be nominated by the faculty representative at their community or two-year institution. The deadline for nominations is February 1, 2007. The list of faculty representatives and application materials are available on the Foundation’s website, www.jackkentcookefoundation.org, or by calling 1-800-498-6478.

About the Foundation
The 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. Mr. Cooke was a businessman and philanthropist who owned such professional sports teams as the Los Angeles Lakers and the Washington Redskins as well as the Chrysler Building in New York City. When he died in 1997, he left most of his fortune to establish the Foundation. Besides the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program, the Foundation’s programs for outstanding students with financial need also include full scholarships for students attending graduate and professional school as well as scholarships to help high-achieving youth develop their talents and abilities throughout high school.