Media Release: JKCF Dissertation Fellowship Award Application Now Open

Lansdowne, VA – The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has opened the application for its Dissertation Fellowship Award. Offering six fellowships per year, the Foundation supports advanced doctoral students completing dissertations that further the understanding of the educational pathways and experiences of high-achieving, low-income students with a one-time award of up to $25,000.

“Through our Dissertation Fellowship we support promising researchers whose work will assist the practitioners, parents, schools, and communities helping students with financial need to reach their full potential,” said Dr. Barbara Schmertz, program manager of the Dissertation Fellowship.

To be eligible, applicants must currently be studying at an accredited U.S. institution, must be advanced doctoral students who have completed all pre-dissertation requirements, must have successfully defended their dissertation proposals before the application deadline, and must not have previously received a scholarship or other funding from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.

Applicants will be selected based on a review of the quality and feasibility of their proposals, the potential of their dissertations to contribute to their fields of study, the applicants’ demonstrated superior academic abilities and achievements, and the likelihood that the work will be executed within the proposed timeframe.

Competitive dissertations will explicitly focus on advancing the education of exceptionally-promising, high-achieving students with financial need by examining conditions that promote or hinder higher achievement and the roles of intervention in student experiences such as summer programs, advising, and scholarships. Applications are encouraged from a variety of disciplines such as, but not limited to, education, sociology, economics, psychology, statistics, and psychometrics.

The application closes February 4, 2014, and recipients will be notified in May 2014.

For more information about the Dissertation Fellowship Award, visit https://www.jkcf.org/scholarships/graduate-scholarships/jack-kent-cooke-dissertation-fellowship-award/.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Because we believe that high-potential, low-income students will excel educationally when given the resources to develop their talents, the Foundation supports exceptional students from elementary school to graduate school through scholarships, grants, direct service, and knowledge creation and dissemination. Founded in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke, the Foundation has awarded $120 million for over 2,000 scholarships and $76 million in grants to organizations that support our mission.  www.jkcf.org

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