Two Perimeter College Alumni Awarded Prestigious National Scholarship

DECATUR, Ga. — Two alumni of Perimeter College at Georgia State University have been awarded one of the nation’s largest private scholarships, the Jack Kent Cooke (JKC) Foundation has announced. Now in its 25^th year, the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship was awarded to 90 community college students from across the United States this month.

Paloma Hodje (A.S. ’25) and Rakeb Tesfassellasie (A.S. ’24), who were both engineering students at Perimeter College, have been awarded the Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, which provides last-dollar funding of up to $55,000 per year for up to three years for students pursuing bachelor’s degrees. Additionally, recipients of the scholarship receive access to personalized advising to guide their academic and professional journeys. They will also join a network of more than 3,400 Cooke scholars and alumni, and benefit from opportunities for internships, study abroad trips and graduate school support.

Hodje and Tesfassellasie are the 29^th and 30^th students from Perimeter to receive the scholarship since 2002. They are the only students chosen from the state of Georgia this year. Tesfassellasie enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology this spring and is studying in the dual bachelor’s/master’s program for industrial engineering. Hodje will enroll at Stanford University in the fall and plans to study electrical and bioengineering.

Both students have been part of the Community College Innovation Challenge, which is hosted by the American Association of Community Colleges in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Tesfassellasie was part of a team of three students that won first place in the 2024 competition for its design of a self-administered Pap test. Hodje’s three-person team reached the semifinals this spring and will compete in June 2025. The team designed a low-cost device that addresses birth asphyxia.

This year’s Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship selection process drew more than 1,600 applications from community colleges across the nation. The 90 new scholars were selected from a semifinalist pool of 467 students. Applicants were evaluated based on their academic achievement, unmet financial need, persistence and leadership qualities.

“We are so very proud of all that Rakeb and Paloma have achieved during their time at Perimeter,” said Barbara J. Johnson, dean of Perimeter College. “We have no doubt that they will both continue to excel and inspire others.”

 — Story by Christy Petterson

— Photo by Bill Roa