City Colleges Celebrates 14 Students Named as 2026 Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Semi-Finalists

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced 14 semi-finalists from City Colleges of Chicago for its prestigious, highly competitive national scholarship, the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. 

This scholarship supports the nation’s top community college students who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree at four-year colleges or universities. These City Colleges students join 485 other semi-finalists from across the country. They were selected from a pool of 1,300 applicants from more than 200 community colleges in 37 states. Each was chosen through an evaluation process that assesses academic ability and achievement, perseverance, and leadership.  

The Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship allows recipients to complete their bachelor’s degrees debt-free at any accredited four-year college or university in the United States by providing last-dollar funding of up to $55,000 per year for two to three years. The award is designed to remove financial barriers so that high-achieving community college students can transfer to and thrive at the nation’s top institutions.  

Congratulations to City Colleges’ 14 semi-finalists: 

• Farzam Jamriz – Harold Washington College 
• Marcos Henrique de Campos Silva – Harold Washington College 
• Zhanylai Adambekova – Harold Washington College 
• Nilofar Sediqi – Harry S. Truman College 
• Sabrina Bernard – Harry S. Truman College 
• Tom Amha –Harry S. Truman College 
• Elizabeth Barajas –Malcolm X College 
• Sujung Kim –Malcolm X College 
• Alex Koci – Wilbur Wright College 
• Armando Roman-Mendoza – Wilbur Wright College
• Andriana Chyzhyk – Wilbur Wright College 
• Julia Kantor – Wilbur Wright College 
• Kyle Chmielowski –Wilbur Wright College 
• Thuy Dang –Wilbur Wright College 

In addition to the scholarship, selected Cooke Transfer Scholars receive personalized educational advising to guide them through the transition to a four-year institution and help prepare them for future careers, access to internships, study abroad experiences, and graduate school funding, as well as a thriving community of more than 3,800 fellow Cooke Scholars and alumni who provide mentorship and networking connections. 

The Foundation will announce the 2026 Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholars in May.