Graduate Scholarship

The application requests your cumulative GPA and the GPA you earned from your Foundation-funded undergraduate institution. Both GPAs will be taken into consideration during the review process.

You will not be able to submit your application until all required fields are complete. Any outstanding requirements will be listed in the Review section of your application.

After you submit, you will receive a confirmation email. Once you have successfully submitted your application and your recommendation has been submitted, your application is complete.

Please submit your official fall 2024 transcript if you are currently enrolled in school. If you are an Alum, please submit your final official transcript from your undergraduate institution.

You must complete the financial section in the online application and upload your 2023 tax forms. These forms help the Foundation assess whether you have unmet financial need.

If you do not have W-2s or tax documents, please upload a letter of explanation instead.

You must submit your application online. The Foundation will not consider applications submitted by email, mail, or fax.

The application and all supporting materials must be completed and submitted online by January 10, 2025 (by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time).

If you have questions about the Cooke Graduate Scholarship, please email us at gradscholars@jkcf.org.

Upload all required documents into your online application according to the directions in the application. The online application, including all required supporting documents, must be submitted by January 10, 2025.

On the How to Apply page, click on the Apply Now link to access the online application, which will be available in mid- to late October 2024.

Yes. Select the “Edit” hyperlink under the status icon. Select “Exclude,” and then you will be given an option to add a new recommender.

Your recommender will receive an email immediately after you send the request via the online application. The email message will provide the recommender with a link to complete the recommendation form. The recommender must click “Submit” to certify that the recommendation is complete.

Recommenders will know their job is done when they receive an email that says that the recommendation has been submitted. You will also receive a confirmation email. The status of your recommendation will then change to “Submitted” on the Graduate Scholarship Recommendation section in your application.

Your application is not considered complete until your recommendation is received.

Yes, you are required to submit one recommendation. The recommendation form must be submitted online by your recommender. You may request the recommendation in your online application by clicking on the “Request” button and following the directions on that page. You are encouraged to send the request to your recommender as soon as possible. Your recommender is instructed to upload a recommendation they have already written for you for your graduate school applications. They are not required to write a new recommendation specifically for the Cooke Graduate Scholarship.

There is no nomination process for the Graduate Scholarship. Scholars apply directly to the Cooke Foundation via the online application.

If you have forgotten your password, go to the login page in the online application and click on the “Forgot Password?” link to have the instructions to reset the password emailed to you.

Do not save the link to your online application to your favorites. Instead, please always access the application through the website. Click on the “Apply Now” link on the How to Apply page to log back into your application. If that doesn’t work, please contact us at gradscholars@jkcf.org.

You must apply to the Cooke Graduate Scholarship before beginning your first graduate degree program, but the award can then be used for only the second degree if that is how you wish to allocate your Cooke funds. For example, if you plan to pursue an M.P.P. followed by a J.D., you must apply before beginning your M.P.P. program, but you can still use the Graduate Scholarship for the J.D. program only if you wish.

No. Scholars must apply before they begin graduate school.

As long as your graduate-level courses were less than the equivalent of a semester of full-time study, you may still be eligible to apply. Please contact us (gradscholars@jkcf.org) to determine your eligibility if you have already taken graduate-level courses.

Generally, students with graduate-level certificates are ineligible. If you have not received a graduate degree or completed significant graduate-level coursework (less than a full semester), you may still be eligible to apply. Please contact us (gradscholars@jkcf.org) to determine your eligibility.

Yes, students in blended undergraduate/graduate programs are eligible. You should apply for the scholarship before beginning the graduate coursework portion of your degree program. For example, if your graduate coursework starts in fall 2025, you should apply by the January 2025 deadline. Contact your Dean of Scholar Support as soon as possible to determine your eligibility and when to apply for the scholarship.

No. Only Cooke Scholars who have not already enrolled in graduate school or earned a graduate degree are eligible.

This award is for students who will begin graduate study in fall 2025. If your program begins in spring 2026, please contact us (gradscholars@jkcf.org) to discuss eligibility. If your program begins in summer 2025 and you are required to start then, you may request funding for the summer 2025 term.

Yes. If you plan to pursue more than one graduate degree, please include all proposed graduate degree programs, including joint degrees. Additional degrees may not be added after the scholarship has been awarded.

Yes, you are eligible for the Graduate Scholarship even if you have full funding from your graduate institution or another source. Graduate Scholars who are not using Cooke funding still have access to apply for our Conference and Travel Stipend and Internship Stipend. In addition, you may need funding toward your cost of attendance after your first year.

Scholars who apply for the 2025 Cooke Graduate Scholarship may be eligible to reapply for the 2026 Cooke Graduate Scholarship as long as they have not started graduate school.

No. Scholars should only apply for the scholarship if they plan to begin graduate school in fall 2025. If you will not be beginning graduate school, you will have to reapply for the scholarship.

Please contact your Dean of Scholar Support or the Associate for Graduate Advisement if you have questions about graduate school, different fields of study, or career options. They can help guide you through the graduate school search and application process. They can also put you in touch with other Scholars/Alums in your field.

To be considered a Scholar in good standing, you submitted scholarship forms, bills, transcripts, and other required materials on time. Additionally, you provided substantive responses to periodic and annual surveys, assisted in recruiting future Cooke Scholars, and participated in other Cooke Foundation activities.

There is no specific GPA cut-off, but we expect that competitive Scholars will have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above. As part of a holistic review, we go beyond GPA to look for demonstrations of distinguished achievement, engagement, and leadership. In addition, we consider unmet financial need and involvement with the Cooke Foundation. In 2024, the average cumulative GPA of selected applicants was 3.77; however, GPA alone is not a deciding factor.

We expect that you will be in the process of applying to graduate school, but most likely have not yet received notifications. You must plan to begin graduate school in fall 2025.

Generally, you have three years from the time you graduate from your undergraduate degree institution to apply for the Cooke Graduate Scholarship. For the 2024-2025 application cycle, Scholars who graduated after October 2021 are eligible.

There is an exception to the three-year window: If you applied for, but did not receive, the 2024 Cooke Graduate Scholarship, you may be eligible to apply for the 2025 Cooke Graduate Scholarship, even if you exceed the three years of eligibility, as long as you have not/will not begin graduate school before fall 2025.

If you would like to discuss your eligibility, please contact the Foundation (gradscholars@jkcf.org).

No. You must apply for the Cooke Graduate Scholarship prior to beginning graduate school. For example, if you are currently in your senior year and plan to begin graduate school in fall 2025, you should apply during the 2024-2025 award cycle (i.e., by the January 2025 deadline). However, if you plan to work or get other experience before beginning graduate school, you should apply later, the year before you begin graduate school. You can apply within three years of completing your Foundation-funded undergraduate degree.

The number of scholarships awarded varies depending on the number of competitive applications we receive. The Foundation has not limited the number of awards it will provide. However, as this is a competitive scholarship, not all applicants are likely to receive an award.

Scholars compete against their own records, not against fellow Scholars. Putting forward your best application possible is essential to help the committee as it selects from a large group of qualified, talented Scholars.

We will inform applicants of the Cooke Foundation’s decision in March 2025.

You do not compete against other Scholars but your own record. The number of scholarships awarded varies depending on the number of competitive applications received.

If you indicate plans for multiple graduate degrees on your Graduate Scholarship application, you can apply for one year of deferral after your first graduate degree.

Yes, there is an annual scholarship cap of $75,000 in any one academic year.

The award is for up to $150,000 total for up to four years of study in an approved graduate degree program. PLEASE NOTE: The maximum annual award amount is capped at $75,000. The amount of every scholarship varies, depending on the cost of attendance and other scholarships or grants received. If you are selected, the Cooke Foundation determines the amount of its award after reviewing the financial aid package from your graduate institution.

The award must be used for educational expenses that appear on the cost of attendance form. Scholars must consult with the Foundation about how they would like funds allocated each year of their graduate degree program(s).

Scholars can decide how to allocate the $150,000 (e.g., $50,000 each year of a three-year program). The actual scholarship amount, however, will be determined according to the costs of the school attended and will not exceed $150,000 in total. The award must be used within four years of the award date; any remaining funds cannot be used after the four-year mark.

No. This award must be used for a graduate or professional degree program at an accredited graduate institution in the U.S. or abroad.

Yes, Cooke Scholars may use the award to attend any accredited, not-for-profit graduate school in the U.S. or abroad to pursue any graduate or professional degree, if the school will receive and disburse stipend funds to Scholars.

If you need to defer your funding, you will have to reapply for the scholarship. Scholars should only apply for the scholarship if they plan to begin graduate school in fall 2025.

No. The Cooke Foundation may renew the scholarship annually until completion of the Scholar’s approved graduate degree(s) (up to four years) or until the $150,000 has been exhausted, whichever comes first, provided the Scholar has maintained strong academic performance, exhibited good conduct, made significant progress toward a degree, and complied with the Cooke Foundation’s administrative requirements and requests.