Welcome from Board president Arthur Rangel

The Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship Fund each spring awards a number of two-year scholarships of $6,000 per year to students who transfer in the fall or spring following the award from Contra Costa County community colleges to junior standing in four-year accredited institutions.

TO QUALIFY FOR A SCHOLARSHIP YOU MUST:

1. Belong to a minority group under-represented in the California College and University system, principally African- Americans; Americans (North, Central, or South) derived from Spanish speaking cultures; Native Americans; and Pacific Islanders (original peoples
   of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands). 
2. Be enrolled for the fall semester prior to the award (or have completed your course work within the past year) at Diablo Valley, Contra Costa, or Los Medanos Colleges. Applicants may not be currently enrolled nor intend to enroll before next June in a four-year college or university.
3. Be eligible (have sufficient and proper units) to transfer to a four-year institution with junior standing for the next fall term (or at the latest the next spring term) following the award.
4. Provide evidence of financial need.
5. Complete and submit on time the application with all required attachments. 
6. If selected for interview, you MUST attend the Saturday morning Selection Committee interviews in the spring.

Applications for this year open soon.  Please complete the process by no later than 5PM February 28, 2025  and contact us if you have any questions at applications@kennedyking.org.  

Applications may be submitted without FAFSA financial information at this time, however once that information does become available it will need to be provided to Kennedy-King.  

We will review all applications throughout February and March and recipients will be notified by April.

Apply using the  online Undergraduate Application Portal listed below. But before you do, please read the 2025 Undergraduate Letter and Instructions which follows immediately below. 

We have added additional content on this page to help you with the application process. 

These include:

• A  video to walk you through the application process. The content of this video was presented to Los Medanos prospective applicants via a zoom meeting and includes an overview of the scholarships offered, a walkthrough of the online application process, and Q&A. 
• A Key dates and application checklist which provides detailed information on what you should be working on month to month and key dates you should make sure you should be aware of.
• Tips for writing an autobiographical statement which provides information that may be useful in completing your autobiographical essay and publication summary
• Undergraduate application FAQs which may answer additional questions you may have. 

Our online application is hosted by WizeHive and can be found at: https://webportalapp.com/sp/kkmc_scholarship_undergrad

Once you click on the portal URL, you can sign in if you have already created an account. Otherwise, Sign Up under Need An Account? 

Introductory instructions on how to complete the online application are noted in the 2025 UNDERGRADUATE LETTER & INSTRUCTIONS section above. 

Please send any questions related to the application portal or process to: applications@kennedyking.org. 

In addition, you can view a presentation we gave to prospective applicants sponsored by LMC (view here)  that provides an overview of the scholarship, insights on the application process by a former applicant, and an overview on how to navigate the on-line application

We invite you to join us for an informational Zoom session, where we will review the details about the application process, answer your questions and a lot of FAQs. Registration is required and below are the dates and registration links for each meeting.

Wednesday, January 22 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Application process opens

All of the required documents are listed on the online application portal.
These include, but are not limited to:

• Undergraduate Application (Complete on your online account including all signatures, essays, and other information requested)
• Undergraduate Counselor Verification Form (Request from your online account)
• Two Reference Forms (Request from your online account)
• Financial Forms as noted in the Undergraduate Letter (SAR, FAFSA, or Cal Grand Dream Act) if you intend to file these. (Upload to your online account).  Applications may be submitted without FAFSA financial information, however once that information arrives, it will then need to be submitted to Kennedy-King. 
• Transcripts (Upload to your online account)

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. 

Create an account and log into the Kennedy-King 2025 Undergraduate Scholarship Application (See Online Form section above)

Complete the initial qualification screen to ensure you qualify for the scholarship. You will simply answer a few questions and will be allowed to continue completing the full application.

Start completing the application.
There are many sections of the application that you can complete quickly. Move forward and complete these as best you can and make notes of items you will need to follow up on such as reference letters and counselor verification forms. You will be required to upload certain documents such as transcripts. The document types you can use to upload documents are pdf, doc, xlsx. Please do not attempt to upload other document types. 

Get started on references
We require two completed reference forms submitted through the application tool.
Think about 4-5 people who would make a good reference. References could include people who know you well or can speak to who you are such as: professors, counselors, clergy, managers, etc. Please do not include references from family members or friends. 

Request Counselor Verification Forms

Request counselor verification forms as soon as possible. This is a stumbling block for many students and your community college counselors are normally on vacation mid-December through the end of January. (If you don't currently have the necessary credits in November, give your counselor a head-up you will need this form competed in January once you have your Fall semester credits in)

Work on your Autobiographical Essay & Publication Summary
This is a section which is difficult for many applicants. So, take advantage of the Winter break and work on this section.  Please see the section on this website for Tips on Writing an Autobiographical Essay.

Request reference letters before the Winter break
This is especially important if you will be requesting reference letters from professors. Give them ample to complete these.

Request Counselor Verification Forms if you have not done so already

Request counselor verification forms as soon as possible. This is a stumbling block for many students and your community college counselors are normally on vacation mid-December through the end of January.

Continue working on your application if you have not completed it.

Request Counselor Verification Forms if you have not already (you are now on a time crunch)

As soon as you return to class, request counselor verification forms to be completed.

Submit all required documents

Submit all required documents using the online application. These include: FASB, transcripts, counselor verification forms, authorizations, etc.

Complete your Autobiographical Essay & Publication Summary

It is now time to put the finishing touches on these statements and complete. 

Check on reference letters

Make sure at least two reference letters have been submitted to the application portal. If you have not received at least two, encourage the recipient of your request to complete these before the February 28th deadline. 

Complete the application by 5PM February 28.  Applications may be submitted without FAFSA financial information, however once that information arrives, it will then need to be submitted to Kennedy-King. 

Make sure your application is complete – the deadline for ALL components is on this date.  This includes the completed application form, Counselor verification forms, reference forms, financial forms, etc. No exceptions will be made for incomplete applications. 

Verify that your contact information is accurate and correct

Don't miss out because you mistyped your email address or phone number

Notifications (early March)

You will be notified whether you are invited or not to interviews taking place on March 16, 2024

In Person interviews will take place on the morning of Saturday, March 22

If selected for an interview, you must attend an interview held only on Saturday morning, March 22, 2025. Students awarded the scholarship will be notified soon after this date. 

Zoom interviews may be allowed for graduate students out of the area and on rare exception and only with previous agreement by Kennedy-King for undergraduate students. These will also take place on Saturday, March 22.

Possible additional requests

You may be contacted by Kennedy-King with additional information or requests for the May meeting or celebration

MANDATORY Contract meeting and board dinner on May 12th at 5pm*

If selected for a scholarship, you must attend a two-hour meeting and dinner to sign the scholarship contract, meet Kennedy-King board members, and be introduced to the board member assigned to be your mentor.

MANDATORY Kennedy-King Awards Celebration on May 16th at 6PM

If selected for a scholarship, you and two guests will be invited to attend our gala event where you will be recognized by the community on your achievements.