FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2014
Danielle McNamara
(510) 987-0230
Press Release
California MESA students claimed 5 of the 85 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships nationwide.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is the largest private scholarship for community college transfer students in the country. The Foundation provides up to $30,000 a year for up to three years to the nation’s best low-income community college students seeking to complete a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university.
MESA student awardees and transfer campuses:
Isis Frausto-Vicencio, College of the Sequoias, chemistry, undecided
Xinyu Liu, Sacramento City College, electrical engineering, UC Berkeley
Jyodi Mohole, Mission College, physiology and neurobiology, UC Los Angeles
Marikris Racho, San Diego City College, biology, San Diego State
Fidel Salgado, Canada College, electrical engineering, undecided
Scholars were selected based on high academic ability and achievements, 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.
“Once again MESA students have shown they can succeed with the support of family, teachers and a community like MESA. These students are committed to their own success and they can compete with the best from across the country,” said MESA executive director Dr. Oscar Porter.
MESA is an award-winning academic enrichment program that provides educationally disadvantaged students with the tools to earn bachelor’s degrees in math-based fields. With tutoring, mentoring, study sessions, transfer counseling and study centers, MESA provides an environment that allows students to succeed and navigate the transfer system more easily.
MESA has programs in 36 community colleges in California. Ninety-seven percent of MESA students who transfer go to four-year colleges as math-based majors.
MESA promotes STEM success for more than 28,000 secondary, community college and four-year college students in California through project-based learning, academic counseling and exposure to STEM careers, so they can graduate from college with math-based degrees. For more information about MESA visit mesa.ucop.edu. Follow us on Twitter @MESASTEM.