(Delaware and Chester Counties, PA)—The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has announced that Delaware County Community College students Paulina Jaus of Media and Fatumata Kaba of Folcroft are among the semifinalists for its highly competitive Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship. The Foundation named 485 semifinalists for the scholarship, which supports the nation’s top community college students with financial need seeking to complete a bachelor’s degree at four-year colleges or universities. 

Selected from a pool of more than 1,300 applicants, this year’s semifinalists represent 224 community colleges across 37 states. Each was chosen through an evaluation process that assesses academic ability and achievement, perseverance, and leadership. 

The Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship enables recipients to complete their bachelor’s degrees debt-free at any accredited four-year college or university in the United States and provides 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. 

A Communication Arts major, Paulina Jaus is the communications and public affairs intern for Delaware County, an opportunity she found through DCCC’s Student Employment Services and Co-Op Center. After graduating from the College, Paulina will transfer to Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication, where she plans to earn her bachelor’s degree. “Thanks to DCCC’s Temple University Dual Admissions Agreement, all my credits will transfer to Temple. DCCC has shown me a path outside of what I used to think I could do. Just ask questions, and somebody here will help you.”

A Psychology major, Fatumata “Fatu” Kaba soared over most of her competitors in the spring of 2025 as a student athlete on the DCCC Phantoms track and field team. She placed second in the nation in the women’s triple jump, leapt to third in the women’s long jump, and was honored as U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Central Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. She was named to the Eastern Pennsylvania Athletic Conference All-Academic Team, is President of the Student Government Association and Vice President of the Psychology Club. She aspires to a career in neuropsychology—and perhaps another attempt at a national title. “Thanks to the resources at DCCC, I feel each goal is attainable.”  

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