How to Apply for a Catholic School's Scholarships

Transitioning from middle school to high school can be a big financial change for many parents. In private schools, you will often experience a significant jump in cost, but don’t let that be a deterrent. Many private and Catholic schools offer scholarships or financial aid, which is seemingly becoming more common.

Do not give up on your dreams of sending your child to the best high school for them. Let’s look at how to apply for Catholic schools scholarships or tuition assistance to alleviate some financial stress.

Check out our roadmap for helping your child continue her education at a private high school.

The best place to start is at the school you are applying to. Look through their website, and speak to their admissions or enrollment management department to see if they offer financial aid or tuition assistance. Many schools have reserved funds for families who demonstrate financial need. Make sure to find out their requirements, how to submit your application, and when the deadline is!

 

For example, St. Agnes Academy offers need-based aid to students who meet admissions criteria. Assistance through this program is available to cover the cost of tuition and the freshman laptop purchase.

For the 2022-2023 school year, approximately 18 percent of the student body received financial aid totaling nearly $2,100,000. The financial aid budget provides funds for both partial and full tuition assistance. The underlying intent of the financial aid program is that no student be deterred by financial reasons from applying to St. Agnes Academy.

If you have questions about how to apply or the qualifications for a school’s tuition assistance or scholarship program, request a meeting with the administrator in charge of financial aid. They will be able to help you better understand the process.

In addition to tuition assistance offered by the school, there are several state and national resources and scholarship programs you can qualify for. There may be scholarships available to you specific to your state or city.

It may also be helpful to talk to your local church or Archdiocese. They may be able to offer additional information on how to find a Catholic school’s scholarship. For example, the Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Schools has a webpage dedicated to scholarships and tuition assistance programs.

Scholarships for Catholic schools are readily available. However, it would be best if you were prepared and organized.

Scholarship applications require lots of documentation and paperwork, sometimes including birth certificates for the children, tax return documents, and any additional files that can prove family income and children’s previous school results.

Be aware of deadlines early, so you have enough time to produce the required documentation. The earlier you start getting your ducks in a row, the better.

You should also make copies of all of your files. If applying to multiple schools, you will have to provide this information several times. So, get ahead of it by making copies of every document for each school you apply to.

Typically, there is a committee that reviews financial aid applications and awards funds based on needs submitted in the application. When you submit your application, be sure to ask them how long it takes for a decision to be made or when you can expect to hear from them.

Applying for Catholic schools scholarships is as simple as following the instructions on the school’s website and checking off the above steps. Some schools will lay out the process for you step by step on their website and even provide helpful answers to some common questions. 

St. Agnes Academy’s financial aid page is an excellent example of what you can expect on other schools’ sites when applying for scholarships.

- Interested in scheduling a tour of St. Agnes or discussing scholarship options with our admissions department? Please reach out to us today. We are glad to help you and your daughter with the next steps in her education.