City Colleges of Chicago Engineering Students Earn Top Honors, Scholarships, and Transfers to Elite Universities (Chicago, IL) – City Colleges of Chicago is celebrating major achievements by students in its School of Engineering, with graduates earning prestigious scholarships, national awards, competitive internships, and acceptance into some of the nation’s top universities.
College leaders say the accomplishments reflect the growing strength of the engineering program as Chicago continues positioning itself as a major technology and quantum computing hub.
“At City Colleges of Chicago, we are ensuring local talent can become world-class engineers right here,” Chancellor Juan Salgado said. “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.”
The School of Engineering recently completed its first full year of expansion beyond Wilbur Wright College to include Harold Washington College and Harry S Truman College.
Students across the program earned numerous academic distinctions during the 2025-26 academic year.
At Wright College, engineering students Anas Ahmed and Everardo Guzman earned valedictorian and salutatorian honors, respectively, while Truman College student Sabrina Bernard was named valedictorian.
The program also produced six Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship semifinalists, including finalists Sabrina Bernard and Julia Cantor, who each secured $55,000 transfer scholarships. Fifteen students also received Schreiber Scholarships worth $10,000 each.
Dean of Engineering Dr. Doris Espiritu said the expansion has strengthened opportunities for aspiring engineers throughout the city.
“The message to Chicago’s aspiring engineers is clear: the future of engineering starts right here at City Colleges of Chicago,” Espiritu said.
Students in the program also captured national recognition through engineering organizations.
The City Colleges chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers earned the organization’s National Chapter Award, while the American Society of Mechanical Engineers named the CCC chapter its Student Chapter Winner.
By the end of the academic cycle, nearly 200 engineering graduates were preparing to transfer to four-year institutions including:
- Northwestern University
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Grainger College of Engineering
- Stanford University
- Columbia University
- University of Michigan
- Illinois Tech
- University of Illinois Chicago
- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Nearly 100 students also secured internships with organizations including NASA, Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, CME Group, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and quantum computing firms.
Anas Ahmed, who will attend Illinois Tech this fall to study civil engineering, credited faculty and staff support for helping him succeed.
“There was not a single time that I didn’t have someone support me,” Ahmed said. “That’s part of the biggest reason why I chose to go there.”
Enrollment for the City Colleges School of Engineering remains open for Fall 2026 at Wright, Truman, Harold Washington, Daley, and Olive-Harvey colleges.
City Colleges of Chicago Engineering Students Earn Top Honors, Scholarships, and Transfers to Elite Universities
