Photo courtesy of BelovED Charter School.
Three Jersey City high school seniors were named semifinalists for the 2025 Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholarship: Eza Iqbal and Bachir Khoukhi of Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School as well as Jeremiah Iverson of BelovED Charter school.
According to its press release, Cooke College Scholars are selected based on exceptional academic ability and achievement, financial need, persistence, leadership and service to others. As noted by the foundation, students applied from all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and Virgin Islands—representing more than 4,200 different high schools.
Jersey City has built a track record in the Jack Kent Cooke College Scholarship program. McNair students reached the semifinal round in 2024 with Yuga Patel who went on to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and in 2021, Sadaat Nazir who went on to Harvard University. Dickinson High School’s Greiky Suriel made the list in 2024, going on to Seton Hall University. In 2016, McNair’s David Guirgis was the sole New Jersey winner of the scholarship. He went on to Northwestern University.
The Cooke College Scholarship provides scholars with last dollar funding after all institutional aid, and provides as much as $55,000 per year to pursue a bachelor’s degree at any accredited undergraduate institution.
“These students have shown remarkable dedication to their academic pursuits, and we’re honored to recognize their achievements as we continue our mission of making college accessible to exceptional students with financial need,” said Seppy Basili, Executive Director of the Cooke Foundation.
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Iqbal and Khoukhiwere in their AP Environmental Science class at McNair when they got the news that they made semifinals. “We realized that moments like these defined the significance of our hard work and efforts, especially from the support that our peers, teachers, and community provided us,” said Khoukhi in statement to Slice of Culture.
“It’s truly an honor to be selected as a semifinalist. I feel it’s really important to give back to a community that essentially created me who I am today. Even the smallest initiatives play an important role in uplifting people around me in order to bridge barriers that I once faced,” said Iqbal.
Iverson was in his AP Calculus class when he got the news.
“It had been a form of relief I never would have imagined. It reassured me that anything is possible if I’m willing to trust myself and be myself when working towards my future,” said Iverson. He credits his adviser Jensine Minnatee of New City Kids and his counselor Darren Harper for supporting his success.
15 students from New Jersey received this national-level of recognition. A list of the 571 semifinalists can be found here.
The three Jersey City semifinalists impacted their community by creating new programs to serve their peers. Iqbal has gained recognition for her work with Worlds Beyond Words and Khoukhi approached the Jersey City Free Public Library to create the Bonetti Children’s Room Volunteer Program, serving students in K-8.
Regarding Iverson’s impact, Jennifer Kelsey, AP Math Teacher at BelovED Community Charter School, said “he is leaving a lasting mark on our school and every student who will pass through its doors, most recently with his proposal of an SAT and College Prep program.”
The full list of 2025 Cooke College Scholarship recipients will be announced in late March.
