The Edward I. Koch Scholarships in Public Service Program
The Edward I. Koch Scholarships in Public Service Program at The City College of New York (CCNY) provides five students a year for three successive years (for students who remain in good standing) with a four-year scholarship of $5,000 per year to cover tuition, fees and books at CCNY. Students must demonstrate financial need. The Program will enable these talented students to work fewer hours and complete the requirements for their bachelor’s degree in a timely way. It will also enable them to perform community or public service.
The Koch Scholarship Program will:
- Make it financially feasible for high-achieving students at The City College of New York to experience the rewards that can come from performing public service
- Provide opportunities for these students to work at a variety of not-for-profit, government, community, and educational agencies.
- Reward and encourage civic-minded young people by underwriting their City College education for the years they are involved in the program.
- Encourage some of City College’s best students to consider devoting additional time – or even their careers – to public service-oriented work.
- Provide a benefit (in the form of volunteer workers) for educational, non-profit and government-based organizations that cannot afford to pay for interns or service aids.
Eligibility:
- Freshmen are eligible to become Koch Scholars.
- High-achieving students from the CUNY Honors College, the CCNY Honors Program, the City College Schools of Engineering, Architecture, Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, and the College of Liberal Arts are eligible to apply.
- Students must have and maintain a grade point average of 3.2 or higher.
- Applicants must write an essay describing why they wish to perform public service and their past public service experiences.
- Public service is meant to be an enhancement of The City College educational experience.
- Time spent on the projects, while important, should not detract from a student’s primary focus on his or her studies, but rather will enrich them.
- To help them pursue their goal of public service, the Koch Public Service Scholars will receive support equal to $5,000/year.
- The Koch Scholarships will be used to pay for the educational expenses of the Koch Public Service Scholars while they are attending City College.
- The Koch Public Service Scholars Program will enhance the retention and graduation rate of some of CCNY’s most promising students by meeting their tuition and other expenses, allowing them to concentrate on their studies, and spend time outside of class at meaningful public service work.
- Students will be assigned to a faculty advisor for the time they are Koch Scholars. They will meet regularly with these advisers both individually and as a group.
- The adviser will help students become oriented to their new working culture.
- The adviser will help students balance their public service work with class work.
- The adviser will be available to address other concerns and questions that may arise during the course of the year.
