Program is designed to help current students and recent alumni pursue four-year degrees.

Anoka-Ramsey Community College is seeking applicants for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s scholarship program for community college students and recent alumni.

The private foundation’s initiative, called the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program, is designed to help students and recent alumni from community and two-year institutions to pursue four-year degrees at any accredited college or university in the United States and abroad.

The foundation will award up to $30,000 annually per recipient. It plans to award approximately 30 scholarships in spring 2006 for use during the 2006-2007 academic year. Each award can be renewed in subsequent years based upon student performance.

Last year, 791 students were nominated from two-year institutions from around the country, and twenty-five of these students were selected as recipients in April 2005.

This year Anoka-Ramsey Community College (ARCC) may nominate up to two students for this prestigious scholarship. Students must be nominated by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Faculty Representative, Dr. Kelly Befus, an ARCC faculty member who heads the nomination committee.

Second-year students are eligible, as are alumni who have earned a degree since May 2001 and have not since earned bachelor’s degree credits. Applicants must be planning to attend a four year institution in the fall of 2006, be able to document unmet financial need, and have a GPA of at least 3.50.

Applications are available on the foundation's website: www.jackkentcookefoundation.org. The deadline for ARCC students and alumni to submit their application materials to ARCC is January 6, 2006. Students may not apply directly to the Foundation for this program. For more information on the scholarship program, contact Kelly Befus (email).

ABOUT ANOKA-RAMSEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Anoka-Ramsey Community College, with campuses in Cambridge and Coon Rapids, has been a leading provider of higher education and training in East Central Minnesota since 1978 and the north suburban area of Minneapolis/St. Paul since 1965. Annually, the college serves more than 9,700 learners of all ages as they pursue associate degrees that transfer as the first two years of a bachelor's degree, or certificate programs that lead immediately to rewarding careers. ARCC is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System.