EdX Launches Scholarship Challenge for Middle School Students

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 01/14/15

Massive open online course (MOOC) provider edX has partnered with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to launch a scholarship challenge aimed at advanced students in grade 7.

To participate, students must complete one of five courses designed for advanced high school or college-level students. They will then become semifinalists in the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Young Scholars Program.

The courses, with start dates ranging from January 20-February 10, include:

• Jazz Appreciation, from UT AustinX;
• Frankenstein, from UC BerkeleyX;
• Programming in Scratch, from HarveyMuddX;
• Introduction to Environmental Science, from DartmouthX; and
• Super-Earths and Life, from HarvardX.

The Young Scholars Program is "a selective pre-college scholarship for high-performing middle school students with financial need," according to a news release, and "includes individualized academic advising, financial support and a pathway to the foundation's $40,000 per year college scholarship."

The foundation usually receives 1,000-2,000 applications for the program each year. Among thoe, about 500 typically qualify as semifinalists.

Eligible students are those entering grade 8 in fall 2015 who have received mostly As and no Cs in core academic subjects since the beginning of grade 6. Students with family income exceeding $95,000 per year are not eligible.

"We are proud to partner with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to identify and support enthusiastic and motivated young scholars who may otherwise not have an opportunity to further their education," said Anant Agarwal, edX CEO. "Our edX mission to provide quality education to everyone aligns with the Young Scholars Program, and we are honored to reach these students online where they are learning today."

More information about the challenge is available at info.jkcf.org.