The future looks brighter for Miami Dade College (MDC) 2014 graduates Karen Burgos, Norka Lecca and Jesus Bohorquez, who have been selected to receive prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships worth up to $30,000 per year each to complete bachelor’s degrees.
Burgos and Lecca both attended the Honors College at MDC at the Kendall Campus.
Born in Peru, Lecca graduates with a degree in political science and plans to practice human or civil rights law, and eventually become a judge. She was vice president of scholarship and leadership for Phi Theta Kappa Omicron Tau and co-president of the Political Awareness Club.
Burgos double majored in music and linguistics at MDC. Originally from Cuba, she speaks four languages and composes music.
Colombian-born Bohorquez is a graduate of the Dual Language Program at the InterAmerican Campus, a component of the Honors College at MDC, where he majored in civil engineering. He was chosen to represent MDC in Salzburg, Austria, for a Global Citizenship Seminar, was president of the Beta Kappa Iota chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at his campus and received the President’s Volunteer Service Award, among other accolades.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is the largest private scholarship for two-year and community college transfer students in the country. This year’s cohort is the largest in the program’s 13-year history, with 85 finalists selected from 3,705 applications representing 737 community colleges from 48 states, two U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.
Scholars were selected based on high academic ability and achievements, persistence, leadership, and financial need. The average GPA of the incoming class is 3.98 and the scholars come from families with an average adjusted gross income of approximately $25,000. They plan to attend competitive institutions such as Georgetown, Cornell, Stanford and Columbia, as well as numerous selective state universities.
“The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has long been committed to helping outstanding community college students transfer to and succeed at the nation’s top colleges and universities,” said Emily Froimson, vice president of programs at the Foundation. “Since the program started in 2002, the Foundation has supported 643 community college students directly, and thousands more through the Foundation’s grant-making initiatives.”
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need.
Founded in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke, the Foundation has awarded $120 million for over 2,000 scholarships and $76 million in grants to organizations that support the mission. For more information visit www.jkcf.org.
