Graduates of City Colleges of Chicago School of Engineering win scholarships, transfer to renown universities and colleges

The message to Chicago's aspiring engineers is clear: your future in engineering starts at City Colleges of Chicago.

CHICAGO-(May 20, 2026) - As Chicago positions itself as a tech and quantum hub, City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) students are completing their engineering programs and are transferring to top universities and colleges-and receiving both scholarships and accolades for all their accomplishments in the field of study.

"At City Colleges of Chicago, we are ensuring local talent can become world-class engineers right here. Through the strategic expansion of our School of Engineering, our students are proving they can compete-and win, securing prestigious scholarships successfully transferring to earn their bachelor's degrees in engineering. As Chicago accelerates as a premier tech and quantum hub, CCC stands ready as the proven launchpad for the next generation of diverse engineer leaders," said Chancellor Juan Salgado, City Colleges of Chicago.

Following its first full year of expansion from Wright College to Harold Washington and Harry S Truman Colleges, the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) School of Engineering has achieved unprecedented successes.

City Colleges of Chicago students are dominant forces on both local and national stages:

• Top Honors: CCC Engineering students captured both Valedictorian and Salutatorian spots at Wright College (Anas Ahmed and Everardo Guzman), alongside Sabrina Bernard winning Valedictorian at Truman College.
• Prestigious Fellowships: The program secured six Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship semifinalists, two finalists and 15 Schreiber Scholars.
• National Awards: CCC chapters defeated major four-year universities to win the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) National Chapter Award and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Student Chapter Winner designation.
• Research and Industry: Close to 100 students landed cutting-edge summer internships at NASA, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, CME Group, and the UIC Energy Resource Center.

"Following our first full year of expansion to Harold Washington and Harry S Truman Colleges, the message to Chicago's aspiring engineers is clear: the future of engineering starts right here at City Colleges of Chicago," said Dean of the School of Engineering at City Colleges, Dr. Doris Espiritu. "Our program and students are proving to be dominant forces and receiving academic honors, securing prestigious scholarships, apprenticeships and jobs. I'm grateful to be able to support them through this program as they achieve their engineering goals."

The expansion year of the School of Engineering shares an exciting story: At Wilbur Wright College, engineering standout Anas Ahmed was named Valedictorian, with classmate Everardo Guzman securing the Salutatorian spot. At Truman College, engineering star Sabrina Bernard swept the top honors as Valedictorian.

The program brought home six Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship semifinalist nominations. Both Sabrina Bernard and Wright's Julia Cantor secured up to $55,000 transfer scholarships, while 15 other students earned $10,000 Schreiber Scholarships.

Individual triumphs also echoed across the program: Elizabeth Luviano won the Fall TCP scholarship to attend elite aerospace hub Embry-Riddle, while Fernando Velasquez captured the Spring prize to fuel his transition to UIC.

The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) handed the CCC team its prestigious National Chapter Award, and not to be outdone, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) named the CCC group its Student Chapter Winner.

By the close of the academic cycle, nearly 200 total engineering graduates prepared to transfer out. Their destinations include the ultra-competitive Grainger College of Engineering at UIUC, Northwestern, University of Michigan, Columbia University in New York, Stanford University, Illinois Tech, UIC, and Embry-Riddle-the number one ranked school for Aerospace engineering.

In addition, nearly 100 students secured highly competitive industry and research internships across the country, and this summer, CCC engineering students are at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, the MWRD, the UIC Energy Resource Center, and cutting-edge Quantum computing firms. Some are even heading to NASA.

"There was not a single time that I didn't have someone support me. And that's part of the biggest reason why I chose to go there-because of the individualized support that I had from Wilbur Wright College faculty and staff," said Anas Ahmed, Class of 2026. Anas is headed to Illinois Tech this fall to pursue a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

The School of Engineering enrollment is officially open at Wilbur Wright, Harry S Truman and Harold Washington, Richard J. Daley and Olive-Harvey colleges, apply today for the Fall 2026, click here or paste this into your browser. https://engineering.ccc.edu/application-process/.

*Read more about how engineers will work and shape quantum computing by clicking here or pasting this into your browser: https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/the-basics-of-a-quantum-computer.

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