Three students from Orange Coast College have been selected as semifinalists for the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. OCC students who were named as semifinalists are Christopher Duong, Shahriya Xikeliya, and Ennyo Yasugi. Duong is in the pre-law honor society, Omega Psi Sigma, and Xikeliya and Yasugi are both Phi Theta Kappa honor society members. The OCC students are three out of 120 California nominees and 467 national students selected as semifinalists for the 2025 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. In 2024, five OCC students were chosen as semifinalists, and one OCC student won the national Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship.
"We are extremely proud of our student scholars' academic achievement," says OCC President Angelica Suarez. "OCC has a proven record of being a transfer leader, and we are excited to learn about their future transfer plans."
The Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship is a prestigious national award that supports high-achieving community college students as they transfer to top four-year institutions to complete their bachelor's degrees. Semifinalists are chosen from a pool of nearly 1,600 applications attending 212 community colleges in 43 states.
The finalists for the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship will be announced in May. Each selected scholar will receive financial support for up to three years, college planning services, ongoing advising, and the opportunity to connect with a community of fellow Cooke Scholars.