Jacob Bean, a graduate of both Bottineau High School and Dakota College, has been named a recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. Only 50 to 60 of these prestigious awards are presented each year to outstanding community college students who plan to transfer and complete a Bachelor's degree at America's top four-year colleges and universities. The Foundation provides up to $30,000 per year to each of the deserving students selected annually, making it the largest private scholarship for community college transfer students in the country. The award is intended to cover a significant share of the student's educational expense for the final two to three years necessary to achieve a Bachelor's degree. Selection criteria include academic achievement, critical thinking ability, financial need, will to succeed, and breadth of interest and activities.
Mr. Bean's academic achievement was also recognized last year when he was recognized as a New Century Scholar and was acknowledged at the American Association of Community College's annual conference in New Orleans in April, 2011, where he was awarded a $2,000 stipend. Jacob was the top scoring scholar from North Dakota's two-year colleges in the All-USA Community College Academic Team competition. This program is administered by the honor society for two-year colleges-Phi Theta Kappa.
