About
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private foundation "dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need." Headquartered in Lansdowne, Virginia, the foundation provides some of the largest private scholarships in the United States, supporting high-achieving, low-income students from the 8th grade through graduate school, along with grants to organizations that serve such students.
Mission
The foundation exists to advance the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. It addresses a persistent gap: high-achieving students with financial need often exist in isolation and require academic challenges, college preparation guidance, and financial resources to develop their full potential.
What they do
- Young Scholars Program: comprehensive educational advising and financial support for exceptionally promising students from families with financial need, from 8th grade through high school
- College Scholarship Program: awards of up to $55,000 annually for high-achieving high school seniors with financial need attending four-year colleges, structured as last-dollar funding after all institutional aid
- Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship: up to $55,000 per year for up to three years for top community college students transferring to selective four-year institutions — described by the foundation as one of the largest private scholarships for community college transfer students in the country
- Oxford Scholarships for graduate study
- Grantmaking to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need
History
The foundation was established in 2000 through the will of Jack Kent Cooke, a Canadian-born entrepreneur who died in 1997 and directed that his estate be used to help talented students overcome financial barriers to education.
Scale and impact
Since its inception, the foundation reports having distributed $336 million in scholarships to nearly 4,000 students from 8th grade through graduate school, and an additional $147 million in grants to organizations serving high-achieving students with financial need.
Financials
According to ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, for the fiscal year ending May 2025 the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation reported revenue of $43,919,097, expenses of $45,846,358, and total assets of $940,115,695.