MDC Annual Report - A Year of Momentum: MDC President Madeline Pumariega / 2022 Annual Report
A YEAR OF MOMENTUM FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY & STAFF
2023-02-17 06:12:31
RISING BLACK SCHOLARS
2021 130 students selected as RBS
2022 200 students selected
98% retention rate
Seizing Opportunities
Miami Dade College is committed to expanding opportunities and eliminating barriers of access to reimagine student success in our community.
Faith Coats, who graduated from Coral Reef Senior High School, said her parents heard about a unique opportunity. “College debt is serious, so I applied hoping for the best,” she said. Coats was one of 130 students who were part of the inaugural cohort of the Rising Black Scholars Program, which provides Black students graduating from high school with free tuition for up to two years, plus academic and co-curricular experiences to equip them with the knowledge, resources and skills for success.
The program, aimed to close equity gaps in our community, was launched in 2021 and is growing. In July of 2022, an induction ceremony was held for 200 more students invited to be part of the Rising Black Scholars program for the new school year. “I’m truly thankful for this opportunity,” said Sydney Jacques, a freshman Rising Black Scholar who aspires to study mechanical engineering. “Personally, I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay for college, but with the help of this program that weight has been lifted and has helped me focus on my future.”
Rising Black Scholars is funded by a $1 million donation from the MDC Foundation and generous support from the Mitchell Wolfson Sr. Foundation.
MDC Builds a Community of Change-makers
300 students were inducted into the inaugural cohort of Miami Dade College’s Presidential Scholars Program, a new scholarship that covers tuition and fees for up to two years of college credits. “Miami Dade College has trusted us and accepted us into this prestigious program out of more than 800 applicants,” said student Viviana Mejias, who spoke at the induction ceremony. “We must support each other, give back to our community, and represent this amazing institution at the highest level.” Another cohort of 300 students will be starting in the Fall of 2022.
98% retention rate for Presidential Scholars students
Accomplishing Academic Excellence
Rising students across MDC are awarded scholarships, enabling them to achieve their academic dreams.
Diane Documet, an MDC Honors College student at Kendall Campus, was awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the most prestigious endowment for undergraduates pursuing research careers in natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. “I am incredibly grateful to have received this award, as it is highly competitive with students from universities such as Harvard, MIT and Stanford, to name a few,” said Documet, a Chemistry major who transferred to Yale.
Five other students were honored with the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholarship, which provides high-achieving community college students with up to $55,000 a year to complete their bachelor’s degrees at four-year institutions. More MDC students have been awarded Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships than at any other college in the nation.
“This award has solidified my aspiration as a researcher and has helped prove to myself that I am capable of pursuing a difficult career.”
DIANE DOCUMET MDC Honors College, Kendall Campus
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