New Scholarship Aims to Attract Out-Of-State Talent

By Gene Rebeck

Andrea Mouw, ’04 BSB, found success in the Twin Cities after coming to Minnesota Carlson from rural Iowa. By establishing a new scholarship, she wants to help other out-of-state high school grads enjoy a similar opportunity. 

“Being able to attend Carlson as an out-of-state student made a big difference in my life,” Mouw says. She started her career with “Big 4” accounting firm Ernst & Young. For the past 11 years, she has worked in the national tax office of Eide Bailly LLP. There, she provides guidance on challenging tax issues across the accounting firm’s numerous nationwide offices.

Carlson’s location in the Twin Cities — home to numerous Fortune 500s and a diverse industry base — has been integral to Mouw’s career advancement. “Finding out where you fit in professionally is a lot easier when you have all those different types of companies available to you,” she says.

Recently, while reflecting on the opportunities she received as an out-of-state student, Mouw became inspired to give back to Carlson. She remembers falling in love with the University of Minnesota campus and its centralized city location — a stark difference from her rural Iowa roots. “There were more people in my [university] freshman psychology class than all of the K-12 students in my hometown,” she recalls.

Knowing that out-of-state tuition can be a barrier for some students, Mouw focused on creating a scholarship to offset the cost. “It’s important to me to give out-of-state students the opportunity [to study at Carlson] because I believe they’ll find what I did,” she says. “You don’t have to go to Chicago; you don’t have to go to New York. Carlson is a great place to launch your career.”

Mouw says a circle of support at Carlson — from friendships to career counseling — helped Minnesota feel like home. She adds that her Carlson education not only helped her gain access to the Twin Cities business community, but it fully prepared her to enter the workforce upon graduation.

“It prepared me from a knowledge base perspective because I was exposed to a lot of different areas — marketing, IT, finance and much more,” she says. “I was well-trained to interact professionally with employers in a business setting — how to communicate, how to conduct myself professionally. ... Carlson is always looking for ways to ensure that its students are learning the skills that employers currently need.”

The scholarship that Mouw created will be renewable each year throughout the student’s four years. “I didn’t want the recipient to get the scholarship for one year then have to scramble to fill the gap the next,” she says. Mouw also is planning to launch a study-abroad scholarship for Carlson students in honor of her late roommate.