Tuition for 2007-2008 School Year
Tuition
Assistance Program |
How Your Company Can Help St. Bernard School with “Free”
Money!
|
St. Bernard School |
||||
|
Prices per student |
|
(4 Payments) Quarterly |
(9 Payments) Monthly |
|
|
Parishioner |
1 child (K-8) | $2675.00 | $668.75 | $297.25 |
| 2 children (K-8) | $4015.00 | $1003.75 | $446.25 | |
| 3 children (K-8) | $4900.00 | $1225.00 | $544.50 | |
| 4 children (K-8) | $5795.00 | $1448.75 | $644.00 | |
| 5 children (K-8) | $6740.00 | $1685.00 | $749.00 | |
| 1/2 day Kindergarten | $1375.00 | $343.75 | $153.00 | |
| 3 year Nursery | $ 900.00 | $225.00 | $100.00 | |
| 4 year Nursery | $975.00 | $243.75 | $108.50 | |
|
Non-Verified |
||||
| 1/2 day Kindergarten | $2065.00 | $516.25 | $229.50 | |
| Grades K-8 | $3925.00 | $981.25 | $436.25 | |
| 3 year Nursery | $1200.00 | $300.00 | $133.50 | |
| 4 year Nursery | $1320.00 | $330.00 | $146.75 | |
|
Tuition Payments Due
Dates |
||||
|
Quarterly |
August 24, 2007 |
October 22, 2007 |
January 21, 2008 |
April 21, 2008 |
|
Monthly |
August 24, 2007 |
September 21, 2007 |
October 22, 2007 |
November 21, 2007 |
|
December 21, 2007 |
January 21, 2008 |
February 21, 2008 |
March 25, 2008 and |
|
*Verified non-parishioner are students who are members of a
nearby parish that attend St. Bernard School because their parish school has
closed.
Deus providebit… God will provide
There is no question that the cost of education – both public and private – is increasing throughout the United States. For those families who want their children to enjoy the extraordinary, life-long value of a Catholic education but who find it difficult to meet the additional financial burden, please take a moment to review the following Tuition Assistance Programs that may be available to you! Be sure to act quickly, though, as the application process (outlined below) has a deadline of March 15, 2007!
Is it worth taking the time to learn about? Yes!! More than 2,100 elementary and high school grants were made for ‘06-‘07 school year through the Bishop’s Education Fund, with more than 6,000 additional grants being made from the Scholastic Opportunity Scholarship (S.O.S.) program. Some students were, in fact, eligible for aid from both programs. Last year, a very high percentage of applicants received some type of assistance! Read below to learn more!
1. Bishop’s Education Fund
The Bishop's Education Fund, which was founded over a decade ago and which has awarded millions of dollars in grants to Catholic school students in our Diocese, is awarded on the basis of financial need.
To be eligible, applicants must (1) be practicing Catholics registered in a parish in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, (2) attend one of the diocesan, parish, or regional schools and (3) have demonstrated financial need. In general, grants from the Bishop’s Education Fund have ranged from $150 to $250 for elementary students and from $250 to $350 for high school students, with the largest grants going to the most needy.
How do I apply? To be considered for the Bishop's Education Fund, simply fill out and submit the Private School Aid Service (PSAS) form by March 15, 2007, as described below!
2. Scholastic Opportunity Scholarship (S.O.S. Fund)
The Scholastic Opportunity Scholarship (S.O.S.) Tuition Assistance Program was developed when the Pennsylvania legislature established Act 4 in May of 2001. This law established the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) to be administered by the PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). Act 4 authorized the award of tax credits to businesses that make contributions to certain scholarship organizations. (To learn more about how you can help the EITC program, please click here!) [Ms. Veri – can we also add the link here to our EITC page? Thanks!]
As a result of the EITC program, the Diocese of Pittsburgh formed the Scholastic Opportunity Scholarship (S.O.S.) Program to receive and distribute tax credit gifts. The funds available through the S.O.S. Program are awarded to families based solely on economic eligibility requirements. Students who are PA residents enrolled in any Catholic school in the Diocese of Pittsburgh are eligible. Applicants can be Catholic or non- Catholic. The funds are sent in the student’s name to the school where the child is enrolled. In general, families with one dependent are eligible if the family income is $60,000; those with two dependents are eligible with an income of $70,000 and so on. In general, grants from the S.O.S. Program have ranged from $100 to $1,800 per student.
How do I apply? To be considered for the Scholastic Opportunity Scholarship (S.O.S.) Tuition Assistance Program, simply fill out and submit the Private School Aid Service (PSAS) form by March 15, 2007, as described below!
3. The St. Bernard Angel Fund
Thanks to the continued generosity of parishioners and friends of St. Bernard School, for many years now the St. Bernard’s Pastor has administered the St. Bernard Angel Fund, which has been designed as an additional safety-net to assist qualifying school families who may be in financial need. To be eligible for tuition assistance from the St. Bernard Angel Fund, you must first submit the Private School Aid Service (PSAS) form (see below), which will then provide a confidential “needs assessment” to St. Bernard’s Pastor. In general, if funds are available, the St. Bernard Angel Fund will serve to supplement grants from the S.O.S. Program and/or the Bishop's Education Fund to help qualifying families with their financial needs.
(To learn how to contribute to the St. Bernard Angel Fund, please contact the St. Bernard Rectory at 412-561-3300. Thank you!)
How do I apply? To be considered for the St. Bernard Angel Fund, simply fill out and submit the Private School Aid Service (PSAS) form by March 15, 2007, as described below!
Apply for Tuition Assistance by March 15, 2007 to Private School Aid Service (PSAS)
All parents applying for assistance from (1) the Bishop's Education Fund, (2) the Scholastic Opportunity Scholarship (S.O.S.) Fund and/or (3) the St. Bernard’s Angel Fund must first have their needs assessed by Private School Aid Service (PSAS), a company from Rocky River, Ohio, which specializes in evaluating need for families attending private elementary or secondary schools.
To apply, families simply submit:
(1) a copy of their federal tax return (and state tax return if applying for Scholastic Opportunity Scholarship (SOS) Program);
(2) a completed 2007 - 2008 "Student Aid Form" (The Pastor's signature is required if you are applying to the Bishop's Education Fund). NOTE: The “Student Aid Forms” are due to PSAS no later than March 15, 2007. Incomplete forms will be returned. The signed "Student Aid Form" must be sent directly to PSAS as indicated in the instructions on the form itself. Photocopied forms will not be accepted by PSAS. Just contact Mrs. Dillon in the St. Bernard School office at (412) 341-5444 for a PSAS Student Aid Form; and
(3) a $20 administrative fee.
Do I need to be concerned about sharing my family’s financial information? No. Please read the message below regarding the limited disclosure of financial information.
(!) An Important Privacy Note About Financial Information
Please note that while the PSAS Student Aid Forms request financial information and also require a signature from the St. Bernard Pastor, please know that the Pastor will sign the PSAS Student Aid Forms without reviewing the detailed financial information requested by the form. Only the first page of the PSAS Student Aid Form needs to be completed by the applicant before the Pastor will sign it! Thank you! (Remember to plan ahead so that the Pastor has enough time to sign the form so you can complete the application and submit it to PSAS before the deadline of March 15, 2007!)
***********
Other Possible Sources of Financial Assistance
If you are interested in pursuing other potential sources of tuition assistance, below is a listing of some organizations that have helped Catholic and non-Catholic families in the past with tuition assistance:
Mary Anderson Goddard, Executive Director
1100 Fifth Avenue South, Suite 411
Naples, Florida 34102
Phone: 239-261-2367
Fax: 239-261-1494
Children's Scholarship Fund
8 W. 38th Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10018
Phone: (212) 515-7100
Fax: (212) 515-7111
How Your Company Can Help St. Bernard’s with “Free” Money!
Yes, it sounds too good to be true, but it is!
In short, on May 7, 2001, by an overwhelming bi-partisan majority, Pennsylvania’s legislature made history by becoming the first state to pass an education tax credit aimed at PA corporations. In essence, the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) allows qualifying corporations in Pennsylvania to redirect their Pennsylvania tax dollars to qualifying educational institutions, including St. Bernard School.
To learn more about the EITC program and how you can help to put your company’s tax dollars to work for St. Bernard School, please click on the links below, or contact St. Bernard Parishioner Ed Grefenstette at ed@commonwealthcg.com (or cell 412-327-0377):
1) EITC PowerPoint Presentation
2) http://www.paschoolchoice.org/reach/site/default.asp
** EITC Applications are accepted on June 30, 2007 for the ’07-’08 year.
Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC)