Scholarship Information: - St. Augustine Catholic High School



2017-18 AZ State Tax-Credit Tuition Scholarship Information:

Primary Organizations we work with at St. Augustine:

• Catholic Tuition Support Organization (CTSO) - We encourage all our families to apply to FAIR to determine scholarship eligibility. CTSO offers all four types of scholarships, D/D has a separate application. Start Applying Nov. 7, 2016 ($24 fee) (username:800, password:ctso800, school code:805)

• Arizona Tuition Connection (ATC)-This organization deals mostly with donor based designations, similar to IBE and AZTXCR. They do a great job of assisting you in finding donors. They offer all four types of awards. Apply and learn about their donor program at 480-409-4106

• Arizona School Choice Trust (ASCT)-Opens the application process early on January 15 each year for the fall semester through TADS. ($30 fee) Apply right away; they are a First come-First Serve STO! 623-414-3429

• Institute for Better Education (IBE)-This fund is available to all students, all 4 types of scholarships are available. They have a Recommended Fund Program. Family and friends can designate your student as recipients of their donation. 520-512-5438 Opens January 23, 2016

• Arizona Leadership Foundation (ALF)-Known by many as the Geico one! Geico hosts an annual Open House in Tucson to open ALF’s application season late March. You will be notified. Turn your application in to Finance Department to process before submitting to ALF for best results. They will not process with an incomplete application! They offer Corporate and D/D only (2 separate applications).

• AZ Community Foundation (ACF) - Company gives scholarships to those with highest financial need. If accepted, they like to give each year through high school and also have college scholarship opportunities. Application process opens in February. Recommend you give some detail on your financial situation. 602-682-2051

Other STO’s that May offer Scholarships:

• Arizona Tax Credit (AZTXCR)-They work similar to ATC and IBE, in that they accept student recommended donations. 480-939-2151

• TOPS for Kids (TOPS)-This STO offers all 4 award types. Applications start May 1. 480-414-8677

• Arizona Private Education Scholarship Fund (APESF)-Limited funds available for our school, require school donations first. 480-699-8911

• Arizona Scholarship Fund (ASF)-This STO offers all 4 award types, but you need to apply early to be considered for Corporate awards. You register annually, then send in an e-application monthly. They offer 10 pay periods each year, you can apply for one or all of them. 480-497-4564

If you currently have either of these: Contact Finance Department:

• AAA Scholarship Foundation-This is a “corporate” donation STO organization, they will offer the maximum, if eligible, of $6600 per year, but you cannot accept any other STO scholarship at the same time. Talk to Finance Department for options available to use with this STO!

• An ESA Scholarship is NOT an STO: The ESA: Empowerment Scholarship Award is a different state program for military families, disabled/displaced eligible students, or a student coming from a D or F public school. If you accept an ESA scholarship, you are NOT eligible to receive any other STO scholarship, and they do not typically cover the full tuition costs at St. Augustine.

Important Scholarship Information to Know:

• Arizona is one of only a few states in the country that offer a tax-credit tuition scholarship program for private schools K-12 grades.

• Corporations and Individuals can donate to a State Tax-Credit Organization (STO) and receive a tax-credit on their Arizona State Income Taxes.

• Donors can designate a particular school to receive the money and use for scholarships.

• Some STO’s allow donors to recommend particular students to benefit.

• Parents CANNOT donate and recommend their own student receive a scholarship.

• Parents CANNOT swap donations with another parent and recommend each other’s students.

• Parents CAN donate and recommend a school, and then apply for scholarship from the school pool of funds and receive scholarship for their student.

• A donation to an STO (501c3 Company) can be used as a Federal Charitable Donation as well as the Arizona State Tax-Credit.

• Learn how the tax-credit program works, check with your tax accountant.

• Check out the STO Power Point Presentation for details on our website.

• Attend A Scholarship Information Session offered at St. Augustine

• Make an appointment with the Financial Aid Director to learn more about your specific qualifications and what types of scholarships your student is eligible to receive.

• Each school works with many STO’s for your student to apply to for scholarships.

• There are 4 types of scholarships your student may be eligible for.

• Most students are eligible for more than one type of scholarship, and can receive that type of scholarship from several different STO organizations.

• If your student has an IEP, MET, or 504 plan, or has ever gone through the Arizona Foster system, they could be eligible for the D/D type of scholarship.

• Each STO has their own application and filing dates, learn which is best for you to apply to. You will have to apply each year for scholarships.

• If you don’t apply, you won’t receive any scholarship money!

Other Helpful Scholarship Tips of Information:

• If you work and pay taxes to the state of Arizona, you may direct all or a portion of your tax liability, that would otherwise go to the state, to STO’s. It doesn't cost you anything extra than you would already be paying the state of Arizona, and it supports these vital scholarship funds.

• You can designate St. Augustine Catholic High School with any STO donation to increase our scholarship pools. All donations are greatly appreciated.

• There are four pools of money in this state tax credit program. Individuals can contribute to the “Individual” and “Switcher, Plus, or Overflow” pools. Only ‘C’ or ‘S’ Corporations and Insurance agencies can contribute to the “Corporate” or D/D pools.

• The law specifically states, however, that a parent CANNOT designate their donation to directly benefit their own children, AND you cannot “swap” donations with another parent for their children. Please do not jeopardize the program by doing this!

• Parents can donate to an STO and designate the school to receive their donation. The parent can then apply to the STO to receive funds from the monies in that school pool.

• All students are eligible to receive monies from the “Individual” pools, as long as they meet the other STO’s requirements.

• Switcher, Plus, or Overflow eligibility can be obtained one of two ways:

o Your student is transferring (switching) from a public school in the prior school year to a private school in the coming school year, or

o Your student was previously in a private school and coming to a new private school or staying in the same one, and received either a Corporate or Plus STO scholarship in the prior year.

• Corporate eligibility has the strictest “family income” guideline. Check the chart with EACH STO to see if you are eligible. To receive a corporate scholarship the first time, you have to have either come from an AZ public school, or received another STO scholarship in the prior year. If you came from a non-Arizona school, you would not be eligible for Corporate until your 2nd year, and have received an Individual scholarship your first year at a private school in Arizona this year.

• A fourth scholarship is known as Disabled/Displaced. To be eligible, you need to have received an IEP or MET or 504 plan by a public school for a disability, OR gone through the Arizona Foster System at any time.

• The most important things to remember about Tax Credit Scholarships are:

o If you don’t apply, you won’t receive scholarship money!

o You must apply EACH YEAR as early as possible to be eligible!

o If you have ANY questions at all about this process, please contact our Finance Department at financialaid@. They can help you by looking at your personal family situation and suggesting which STO’s will work best for you.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download