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Herndon mother gets $300,000 academic scholarship
A 41-year-old mother of three has received an academic scholarship worth up to $300,000 to pursue a graduate-level education.Karen Arter, of Herndon, will receive up to $50,000 annually for up to six years as she attends a master's of business administration program at Johns Hopkins University.
Arter is currently a contract billing consultant at the Dulles office of consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton.
The South Carolina native originally placed her career on hold to start a family and become a stay-at-home mom. "When I graduated high school, my parents said they would would either pay for a wedding or a college education, and I chose to get married," she told The Times.
When Arter's youngest child started kindergarten, she discovered that her outdated computer skills were holding her back from the job market and she enrolled in a two-year technical school.
“I was afraid of failure and more afraid of being a poor example to my children,” she said.
In one year, Arter emerged triumphantly, earning a 4.0 grade point average and becoming a member of academic honor society Phi Theta Kappa.
She then received the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship in 2002, which allowed her to complete her four-year degree at the College of Charleston.
According to Arter, the scholarship gave her the courage she needed to make the transition from South Carolina, and pursue a career in the Washington, D.C., area.
Now, she is ready to continue her education, and is still eligible for support from the foundation.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to helping young people of exceptional promise reach their academic potential through education.
Established in 2000 by the estate of self-made billionaire and former Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke, the foundation focuses on high-achieving lower-income students from middle school through graduate school. Cooke's own dream of pursuing a formal education was cut short when he left high school during the Depression to work full time to help support his family.
When he died, he made sure the bulk of his money went to help outstanding students fulfill their potential without finances becoming an impediment to their progress.
"Some of our scholars start with us in the seventh grade," said Vance Lancaster, director of marketing and communications for the foundation. "We support those students through the 12th grade and then they can apply for a college scholarship and then for the graduate award that Karen got. We can easily work with students for 15 years or more and support up to $600,000 is available to those students."
Headquartered in Loudoun County's Lansdowne, the foundation has helped thousands of students nationally since opening its doors through individualized direct service programs, scholarships, and grants to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. Students simply must maintain certain academic standards to qualify.
With an endowment of $700 million, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is one of the 100 largest private foundations in the country.
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