Scholarship Program
Since PBKACA’s college scholarship program for talented Chicago Public School students began in 2005 as a modest endeavor to award one annual $5,000 scholarship, the program has grown by leaps and bounds.
With your help, we can continue and expand this program. We want to be able to renew funding for winners through all four years of college if their grades and recommendations support our contribution. To be able to do this, we need to add to our current scholarship account and to build our endowment to at least $500,000 for this permanent funding.
Scholarship Recipients
Each year, we get applications from so many well-qualified and financially deserving students, it is difficult to choose just one!
2024 Ezra Redeatu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2023 Juliza Ariza, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
2022 Ricardo Barajas-Lopez, University of Southern California
2021 Karely Ramirez, DePaul University
2020 Jose Muñiz, Northwestern University
2019 Yailin Benitez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2018 Catherine Oliva, Northwestern
2017 Pablo Romo, University of Illinois at Chicago
2016 Trenati Baker, Amherst College
2015 Anthony Zhao, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2014 Davit Ksor, University of Illinois
2013 Juan Castrejon, Columbia University
2012 Zobia Chunara, Yale University
2011 Sana Iqbal, Loyola University Chicago
2010 Merita Bushi, Macalester College
2009 Derrius Quarles, Morehouse College, and Alexander Langendorf, Carleton College
2008 Kenneth Oshita, University of Chicago
2007 Dominique Barron, Georgetown University
2006 Ramon Lee, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard Medical School
Read more about our scholarship recipients »
Read our most recent scholarship program letter.
Watch a video from Erza Redeatu describing his first semester in college.
Support Talented CPS Students
To support our scholarship program, you can:
- Download and print the donation form (.pdf) and send a check made payable to the PBKACA Scholarship Fund directly to our P.O. Box A3113, Chicago, IL 60690.
- Make a donation online now via PayPal.
- Make a donation directly from your IRA trustee to PBKACA. Your donation from your IRA may have an additional tax benefit.
- Contact Roselind Lindau to discuss your ideas, ask questions, and perhaps schedule a meeting.
One hundred percent of contributions are used to fund the scholarships. Phi Beta Kappa Chicago is a 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax deductible and every donation will receive an acknowledgement for your tax records.
Goals for the Scholarship Program
PBKACA established a separate fundraising committee to focus on expanding the scholarship program. We plan to expand the successful program in several ways:
- To build an initial endowment of $500,000, which could generate over $20,000 in income per year.
- To award one new scholarship from income each year, ultimately supporting four Chicago Public School students for four years of college.
- To award additional endowed scholarships, which would be named for their benefactor.
- To obtain contributions through planned giving, such as IRA’s or bequests.
We thank each of the members who have contributed to the scholarship program and encourage all members to consider making a donation this year in support of the scholarship initiative.
Apply for the Scholarship
The application, which includes the nomination process, can be found at http://cps.academicworks.