Scholarship Opportunities & Study Tips

Five Cooke Scholars sit and stand at a table, engaged in conversation.

September 6, 2019 – Here’s what we’re reading this week about the issues affecting high-achieving students. How far can behavioral nudges push students? Also, read about staying happy in college and how to apply to the Foundation’s scholarship and grant programs.

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High-achieving high school seniors can now apply for the Cooke College Scholarship Program, and the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is accepting applications from community college students preparing to transfer to a four-year institution. Both programs provide up to $40,000 per year, as well as comprehensive educational advising and access to the thriving Cooke Scholar community.

 

Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • In The 74, Colin Seale suggests an alternative to eliminating gifted programs in New York City’s public schools.
  • “Keeping students at the same school can boost their sense of support and keep them from losing ground academically,” states Education Lab‘s article on providing transportation to students experiencing housing insecurity.

 

Higher Education:

  • “Flagships are well-positioned to promote social and economic mobility,” states a new report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy. “However, increasingly high costs of attendance, declining state investment, and inadequate and poorly-targeted financial aid policies mean that too few low-income students have meaningful access to these elite institutions.”
  • Low-cost behavioral nudges showed promising outcomes for enrollment and retention, but The Chronicle of Higher Education explains that scaling similar programs to larger populations has been “discouraging,” because students are less connected to the sending organization or institution.
  • NPR shares seven tips from psychologists and a cognitive scientist for studying and staying happy in college.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • The Foundation is accepting proposals for the Good Neighbor Grant program from nonprofit organizations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area that help students develop their talents and intellectual curiosity. Selected grantees will receive a one-time grant of between $10,000 – $35,000. Details on program eligibility and the application process are here.
  • Educators looking to assist students with the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship application process can attend a webinar on Thursday, September 12 hosted by staff from the Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa, and and Common App.
  • “Once I got over my pride and misconceptions about community college, I cherished my education and the people I met there,” writes Cooke Scholar Liz Dong in Christianity Today. After graduating from the College of DuPage, Liz completed her bachelor’s degree in communication studies at Northwestern University.

 

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Photo header: Cooke Scholars collaborate at Scholars Weekend 2019.