Financial Aid and Scholarships

Navigating Scholarships and Financial Aid at Private Schools

Affording private school is a major consideration for most families — but the good news is that help is often available. Financial aid and scholarships are key resources that make a private education accessible to students from a wide range of income levels and backgrounds.

Whether you’re just beginning your school search or actively applying, understanding how financial aid works — and how to position your family effectively — can make a significant difference. This guide explains the key types of aid, how to apply, and what to expect at each step of the process.

Financial Aid vs. Scholarships: What’s the Difference?

Before diving into the process, it’s important to understand two common terms:

• Financial Aid is typically need-based and awarded to families who demonstrate that they cannot afford the full cost of tuition. Schools evaluate your financial situation using standardized tools and documents.

• Scholarships can be need-based or merit-based. Merit scholarships are awarded for academic achievement, leadership, athletic ability, artistic talent, or other accomplishments, regardless of financial need.

Some schools offer both types; others may focus exclusively on need-based aid. For more details, see Financial Aid: Common Questions Answered. Private schools use financial aid to attract and support students who are a strong fit but may not otherwise be able to attend. The process is designed to be confidential, fair,

Finding the right private school for your child is a major process in and of itself. It is time-consuming with lots of steps, deadlines and forms to fill out and submit. Then, of course, you have to deal with the issue of how to pay for that private school education once you have identified the right school. Against this backdrop let's you and I figure out how to make the financial aid process work for us.

Start early

The key to success with any major project is to begin early. Taming the financial aid part of getting your child into private school begins with knowing how much you can afford to pay. Have that number worked out and clear in your mind. The most effective way at figuring out what you can pay is to review your income and expenses. Determine what you can afford to pay monthly for your child's tuition. Project that number also as an annual amount. Now bear in mind that this is a rough cut because what you are going to be doing very soon is completing the online documentation known as the Parents' Financial Statement or PFS provided by the School and Student Service (SSS) organization operated by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The PFS will require accurate financial information about your income, expenses, and assets as well as information about any other children who are in tuition-charging schools, i.e., private school. Having that rough idea of how much

An SFO is a Scholarship Funding Organization. Basically it is an organization which provides financial assistance for attendance at private school. Each SFO is a legal entity with its own rules and governing regulations.Always ask if an SFO has been set up in your state. Scholarship Funding Organizations are permitted by an act of the state legislature and allow corporations to donate tax-deductible funds for K-12 scholarships.

Arizona Independent Schools Scholarship Foundation
The Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship Program
Georgia Tax Credit for Private School Costs and Scholarship Donations
Illinois—Education Expenses Credit
Iowa—Education Tax Credits
Iowa—School Tuition Organization Tax Credit
Louisiana—Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program
Louisiana—Elementary and Secondary School Tuition Deduction
Maine—Town Tuitioning
Minnesota K–12 Education Credit and Subtraction Program
Ohio—Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program
Ohio—Educational Choice Scholarship Pilot Program (EdChoice)
Pennsylvania—Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program
Rhode Island—Tax Credits for Contributions to Scholarship Organizations
Rhode Island Scholarship Alliance
Vermont—Town Tuitioning
Wisconsin—Milwaukee Parental Choice Program
District of Columbia—DC Opportunity Scholarship Program

Financial Aid 101

What is financial aid?

• Financial aid is money given by individual private schools to help families pay for a private school education.
• Private schools give families millions of dollars annually to help them afford a private school education.

What is the purpose of financial aid?

• Financial aid is one tool private schools can use to make their school more diverse.
• Yes, many years ago, private schools had a less-than-positive reputation for being elitist.
• However, thankfully, times have changed.

Being able to pay for a private school education is no longer the only admission criterion that matters. If your child has the qualifications that the school is looking for, but you cannot afford to send her, then financial aid is certainly an option that you need to explore.

Read what one of the most prestigious private schools in the United States of America has to say about diversity:

"Andover's broad socio-economic diversity is a hallmark of the Academy as displayed in the inclusive distribution of financial aid grants to low-, middle- and upper-middle-income families."

Phillips Andover, like a great many private schools, has a Need-Blind Admissions policy in place. What that means is that the school does not look at your financial circumstances as part of its admissions criteria.

• Ask whether the school to which you are applying has a Need Blind Admissions policy in place.
• Find out more about how it works.

This video offers a video of the

Most private schools offer some form of financial aid to help offset tuition. Here is how these programs work in most schools. There are exceptions, of course, because we are talking about private, independent schools. Each school determines how it will handle its financial aid program. No local, regional or national association dictates how financial aid programs will work.

First of all, you have to ask for financial aid. If you don't ask, the school will not know that you need financial assistance. Secondly, you will have to prove that you really do need financial aid by documenting your income and assets. That is where the Parents' Financial Statement comes in. Then, the last thing to consider is that most schools have a limited pool of funds from which to award financial aid. That means that you must submit your application for financial aid as early as you can in order to be considered for a financial aid award.

Here is how The Hill School, Pottstown, Pennsylvania describes its financial aid program:

"The Hill School Financial Aid Program offers assistance to families based upon their financial need and the availability of funds. There are no merit-based scholarships at The Hill School. All awards offered are based on the financial/demonstrated need of the family. Accordingly, no student should be deterred from applying to The Hill due to their family not being able to afford the full tuition. Approximately 40 percent of our current student population