By Daily Press staff
Millions of dollars in scholarship funds to help Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara families offset the cost of Catholic education tuition is now available from the Catholic Education Foundation’s Tuition Awards and Advantage Plus programs.
Applications are being accepted until March 28 for elementary school students and April 16 for high school students.
To be eligible for tuition assistance, children must come from families whose annual earnings are no more than 15 percent above the Federal School Lunch Program guidelines. For example, a single parent with two children would qualify for assistance if his or her annual income was no more than $22,148.
The foundation also considers the child’s academic achievement, his or her character, the family’s involvement in church and school activities and the recommendation of the principal at the Catholic school where the child attends or is hoping to attend. Elementary School Tuition Award applications must be submitted by the principal of the school where the applicant intends to enroll.
This year, tuition awards will enable more than 5,000 disadvantaged children to attend 227 Catholic elementary and high schools in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The Advantage Plus program was added last year to provide additional scholarships to students who attend the poorest schools in the Los Angeles Archdiocese. The scholarships offset the cost of enrollment in Catholic school with grants $800 annually for elementary school students and $1,500 annually for high school students.
The Catholic Education Foundation was founded in 1988 by Cardinal Roger Mahony and a group of business leaders and since its beginning, has awarded more than 51,000 scholarships at a cost of approximately $42 million. For more information about the scholarships available, please call the Catholic Education at (213)637-7475 or log onto www.CatholicEd-Foundation.org.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 24, 2003. Read the original PDF.