Tuition Assistance

Many families make great sacrifices to send their children to a Catholic school. For some families, however, the financial stretch, especially for those with more than one child in school, makes the choice difficult.

For those families who are unable to afford a Catholic education, help is available through the Diocese of Metuchen's Tuition Assistance program.

Tuition Assistance in the Diocese of Metuchen is made possible through The Foundation for Catholic Education, an endowment fund that was established to provide financial support to aid low and moderate income parents.

In 2011, over $708,000 in tuition grants were distributed to 694 students in the Diocese's schools. Families with children in grades K-12 who attend any of the Diocese's 30 elementary schools, two Diocesan high schools or one parish high school can apply for tuition assistance.

 Families with students in the Diocese's two private high schools can seek assistance directly from those high schools.

Tuition assistance grants are determined based on need. The application process for tuition assistance is administered by a third-party company, Private School Aid Service (PSAS). To determine a family's eligibility, PSAS analyzes a family's income as well as other factors that affect the ability to afford tuition.

Grant application forms are usually available during Catholic Schools Week which will fall between January 29 and February 5, 2012.

Generally, applications must be completed and submitted, including the pastor's signature, by the established deadline, usually in late March or early April. Every family that applies will receive a letter of notification whether or not the grant has been approved by mid-June of the year they applied. Schools are also notified at this time. Actual grant monies are sent directly to the school in late fall. Tuition billing adjustments for each family are done by the individual school. The financial aid forms can be obtained by contacting the principal or business office of the school your child attends or will attend, or you can download a copy by clicking on the link below.

Financial Aid Information Letter:

• English 2012 (PDF)
• Spanish Version 2012 (PDF)

Student Aid Application 2012-2013:

• English Version (PDF)
• Spanish Version (PDF)

Hardcopy application forms may be obtained directly from your school.

Please note: This version of the 2012-2013 Diocesan application for financial aid is a state of the art interactive PDF, and may be utilized in two ways:

1) The Student Aid Form PDF may be printed, completed by hand and mailed to PSAS.

2) In addition, you may also complete the Student Aid Form PDF directly on your computer screen by placing the cursor at the appropriate fields and typing in the information. The “Tab” key is the key stroke to advance the cursor to the next field (the most common error is to use the “Enter” key). You do not have to click on each field to answer a question. When you are finished, print the completed document and save it to your computer for your records (If you are running Acrobat 7 or higher).

In either instance, please remember:

1) you and your pastor must sign the application;

2) you must attach copies of any necessary tax information and required documentation (send only copies of these documents, and save a copy for your files);

3) and finally, you must mail the completed application and non-refundable processing fee of $23.00, made payable to Private School Aid Service (PSAS) to the following address:

Private School Aid Service
PO Box 89434
Cleveland, OH 44101-6434

2012 Important Dates

Parents may check the status of their application by logging on to Private School Aid Service.

Tuition Assistance Grants

The Diocese of Metuchen provides tuition assistance grants to families in financial need who attend one of our diocesan Catholic elementary or high schools. These grants are provided through The Foundation for Catholic Education Endowment Fund.  Through the generosity of donors and sponsors through the Diocese, funding to provide this level of diocesan tuition assistance comes from three sources:

• The annual diocesan collection taken up in January in all parishes for The Foundation for Catholic Education
• The net proceeds from the annual Students-to-Leaders Education Dinner. 
• Interest income earned on the endowment fund.

For the 2011-2012 school year, The Foundation for Catholic Education was able to provide the following assistance:

The percent of financial need covered by individual grant awards per student for the 2011-2012 school year ranged from 16.33% - 26.13%. The actual financial need for a student is calculated by Private School Aid Service based on parent financial aid applications.

For the 2011-2012 school year, the diocesan minimum standard for elementary school tuition was $3850, not including fees. Please see individual schools for actual tuition charged.

Parishioner vs. non-parishioner rates
Each parish school sets its own tuition and fee schedules. Generally, since the home parish provides a financial subsidy to the school, there may be different tuition rates for students of parishioners vs. non-parishioners. Please check with the local school for specific rates.

Operating Cost per Child
Based on the school financial budget cycle, financial data for the current school year is not yet available. Once it is available, the Operating Cost Per Child information will be updated.

Using the 2010-2011 school year financial data across all of our elementary schools, the following represents the average operation cost per child: $5,243. The cost to educate a child in one of our schools is covered by 3 main sources of income which are outlined below. Using the $5,243. average above,

The ideal breakdown of operating costs for any Diocese of Metuchen Catholic school should be covered as follows:

Sources of Government Funding

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Policy 7044
IDEA funds services for students who are suspected of having disabilities and of needing special services.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
Policy 7023
This Federal grant funds several programs such as:

• Title I: Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged
• Title 2: Preparing, Training and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals
• Title 3: Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient Students
• Title 4: Safe and Drug-Free Schools

State Funds
Policy 7061
State funds support the following programs:

• Textbook Loan Program
• Chapter 192-193 Auxiliary services for at-risk students
• Nursing Services
• Transportation