Diocese of Scranton Scholarship Foundation
Provides Tuition Assistance
 

The Diocese of Scranton Scholarship Foundation continues to help families fund their children’s Catholic education.

For the current school year, 1,068 students have received awards totaling $927,525, averaging $868 per award.

Since the Foundation was established, $6,017,589 has been given to 6,341 students in Diocesan Catholic schools.

The awards are made possible through donations from businesses who participate in the Pennsylvania State Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. The program offers direct tax credits to businesses that make a donation to a qualified scholarship organization such as the Diocese of Scranton Scholarship Foundation.

Once the donations are made, the donor company receives a 75%, 90% or 100% credit against Pennsylvania taxes depending on the type and length of their participation.

“The support of the businesses that have contributed to our Foundation enables many families to send their children to Diocesan schools. Those families and the Diocese are extremely grateful to the contributors,” said Joseph Casciano, Diocesan Secretary for Catholic Education and Superintendent of Schools.

Families must submit an application to be considered for tuition assistance. The applications are evaluated by the Private School Aid Service (PSAS), a Lakewood, Ohio company that specializes in financial aid programs. Using objective criteria, the company ranks the applications within each school based on a formula that uses financial information provided by the applicants. The rankings and the amount of scholarship money available in each school determine which students receive aid.

Applications for tuition assistance from the Scholarship Foundation for the 2009-10 academic year will be available in each school beginning in February 2009.

The amount of funding varies from school to school because corporations have the option of designating their contributions for specific schools or allowing them to be used wherever the need is greatest. In addition, every Diocesan school is encouraged to approach corporations to seek support for this program.

Companies that want information on the EITC program and how to make a contribution can call the Diocese of Scranton Finance Office at 570-207-2237.

Diocese of Scranton Scholarship Foundation
Tuition Assistance Awards for 2008-09

School                                                Location                      Awards         Amount

Sacred Heart                                        Carbondale                      49                $  31,700

Our Lady of Peace                               Clarks Green                    23                $  22,400

Monsignor McHugh                              Cresco                             42                $  30,300

Gate of Heaven                                    Dallas                               10                $  10,000

Holy Cross High School                       Dunmore                          16                $100,600

St. Mary Mt. Carmel                            Dunmore                          36                $  30,400

Holy Rosary                                         Duryea                             23                $  18,500

Notre Dame Elementary                       E. Stroudsburg                  37                $  27,200

Notre Dame Middle School                  E. Stroudsburg                  28                $  18,800

Notre Dame High School                      E. Stroudsburg                  32                $  32,000

Wyoming Area Catholic                        Exeter                              36                $  29,700

Holy Family Academy                           Hazleton                           64                $  53,100

St. Vincent                                           Honesdale                        26                $  16,200

LaSalle Academy                                 Jessup/Dickson City         37                $  19,900

Good Shepherd Academy                    Kingston                         103                $  60,600

St. Jude                                                Mountaintop                     17                $  10,100

St. Mary Assumption                            Pittston                             24                $  13,800

SS Peter and Paul                                 Plains                               38                $  18,700

Epiphany                                              Sayre                                 7                $    6,700

All Saints Academy                              Scranton                           57                $  32,500

Marian Catholic                                    Scranton                           59                $  64,225

St. Clare/St. Paul                                  Scranton                           55                $  33,000

St. Agnes                                             Towanda                          31                $  15,400

Holy Redeemer High School                 Wilkes-Barre                    68                $109,300

St. Aloysius                                          Wilkes-Barre                    29                $  16,000

St. Nicholas/St. Mary                           Wilkes-Barre                    26                $  17,000

St. John Neumann Reg. Academy         Williamsport                     86                $  71,400

Marian Catholic High School                Tamaqua                            9                $  18,000

                        Totals                                                             1,068               $927,525

Applicants for tuition assistance are ranked based on financial need. The amount of money available at each school varies because donors have the option of designating their contributions for specific schools or allowing them to be used wherever the need is greatest.