The Jack Kent Cooke (JKC) Foundation has announced the opening of its Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Application, which provides selected community college students, including Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), with up to $40,000 per year for up to three years to complete their bachelor’s degrees. In addition to the monetary award, students selected as Cooke Scholars will receive college transition support and ongoing advising.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private independent foundation, established in 2000, to help young people of exceptional promise reach their potential through education.

Cooke was a businessman and philanthropist who owned professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers and the Washington Redskins, and the Chrysler Building in New York City.

Since 2000, the Foundation has awarded $200 million in scholarships to more than 2,600 students from 8th grade through graduate school, along with comprehensive counseling and other support services. The Foundation has also provided more than $110 million in grants to organizations that serve such students.

This year, students may apply to the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship via a newly-designed Common App for Transfer, an updated online platform that hosts the applications of more than 650 colleges and universities.

To be eligible for the program, applicants must:

Be a student or a recent graduate of an accredited United States community college or two-year institution with sophomore status by Jan. 1, 2020, or a recent graduate (since spring 2015).

Intend to enroll full time in an accredited four-year college in fall 2020.

Have a cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.5 or above in college.

Demonstrate unmet financial need.

Applications are reviewed by a panel of university faculty and admissions professionals. Selection criteria focus on exceptional academic ability and achievements, financial need, persistence, leadership, and a desire to help others.

The deadline to submit a completed application is Nov. 20.

For more information about eligibility and the application process: jkcf.org, or contact Ginny Mihalik, Transfer Counselor and JKC Campus Representative, vmihalik@lccc.edu.