Graduate Degrees-More Vital Than Ever-Come Within Reach of Lower-Income Students

JACK KENT COOKE FOUNDATION
44325 WOODRIDGE PARKWAY
LANSDOWNE, VA 20176

News Release

August 13, 2008
Contact: Vance Lancaster
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
(703) 723-8000
vlancaster@jkcf.org

62 Students awarded Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate scholarships

Nation's Most Generous Graduate Scholarships;
Up to $300,000 to Complete Graduate or Professional Degrees

Lansdowne, VA —Attaining a graduate degree has become an increasingly important step to professional and financial success. Master’s degree holders earn roughly 25 percent more than those with just a bachelor’s degree. For those with a professional degree or Ph.D., the income difference is even greater. 

High-achieving students from lower-income families face an especially difficult path to graduate school. Just 29 percent of high-achieving lower-income high school graduates who also complete college go on to receive graduate degrees, compared to 47 percent of high achievers from upper-income families. 

To help the next generation of leaders from lower-income backgrounds achieve their dreams by pursuing graduate or professional degrees, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation established the most generous graduate scholarship program in the nation. Today, the Foundation announces its 2008 Graduate Scholarship recipients.

A total of 62 students will receive awards of up to $50,000 per year for up to six years. Many recipients are community college graduates who completed their undergraduate degrees with Undergraduate Transfer Scholarships from the Foundation.

The 2008 Graduate Scholars demonstrate a remarkable commitment to public service. Well over half plan to dedicate their careers to public service in one form or another, engaging in such critical pursuits as sustainable development, improving public health, combating infectious disease, and advancing human rights and social justice. 

“We must work to remove the barriers high-achieving lower-income students face gaining access to graduate and professional schools,” said Joshua Wyner, executive vice president of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. “I have no doubt that this relatively small group of Scholars will have a meaningful impact on our future. They are ambitious, talented, and committed to giving back.    We deny society great talent and broad perspectives when we deny these budding leaders, and students like them, the opportunity to reach their full potential.” 

The 2008 Graduate Scholars are richly diverse. Twenty scholars are from outside the US, hailing from Albania, Brazil, Poland, Jamaica, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and elsewhere. The remaining scholars come from 25 US states. The scholars range in age from 20 to 56 and will attend some of the world’s finest graduate and professional schools, including Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Cornell, and Cambridge.

• Bonheur Buconyori was born in Burundi where he survived the genocide, taking refuge in Kenya before coming to the US for college. He is committed to helping rebuild his country after completing his graduate business and public policy studies at Stanford University.
   
•  Raja Bobbili, who will study law at Harvard University, grew up in Zambia where he witnessed some of the darkest events faced by populations anywhere in the world. He has already begun to pursue his goal of helping to alleviate poverty and suffering in Sub-Saharan Africa: he established a nonprofit organization to bring sustainable technology solutions to Africa.
   
• Alison Chopel wrote an award-winning novel about her experiences as a homeless teenager. Having worked with Tibetan refugees, Romanian orphans and Dominican street kids, she hopes to make an impact in social health and welfare after completing her graduate studies in international affairs at UC Berkeley.

About the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to helping young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. Established in 2000 by the estate of self-made billionaire Jack Kent Cooke, the Foundation focuses on high-achieving lower-income students from middle school through graduate school. Headquartered in northern Virginia, the Foundation has helped thousands of students nationally since opening its doors through individualized direct service programs, generous scholarships, and grants to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. With an endowment of $700 million, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is one of the 100 largest private foundations in the US. For more information please visit www.jkcf.org.