Applying for need-based Financial Aid or Scholarships
First and foremost, for tuition assistance, the first step is to apply with Catholic Education Arizona. Even if one feels they might not meet the criteria to qualify for a need-based scholarship,when there is an application on file, it gives some flexibility in awarding additional funding. The application is done online at http://www.fairapp.com the login is 700 and the password is cea700. The application window opens mid-February, the first round closes April 15 and the second round on July 30. Parents want to apply–early– to the organizations listed below. The applications for the following year open in February and March, and early filers get more money; so don’t delay.
Every family should also contribute their Arizona State Tax-Liability to CEA. This is not a donation, but a redirect of the taxes you pay anyway. These funds provide financial assistance to many of our families.
Other scholarship organizations include:
AAAScholarships.org
Arizona School Choice Trust
Arizona Leadership Foundation
Brophy Foundation
Institute for Better Education
School Choice Arizona
Tops for Kids
Please review the information on each website and feel free to contact the school office if you need assistance filling out the applications. It is helpful to have last year’s taxes done, and have the first two pages scanned, ready to attach to an email.
Before funds are actually released to Christ the King, the school will need to verify your registration is complete. If this will be your first year in a Catholic School, whether you are transferring or starting in Kindergarten, you will qualify for a special designation as a Plus Recipient or for Corporate Tax-Credits.
There are also funds set aside for children whose parents are on active deployment, are foster children, or are adopted. These Empowerment Grants have specific criteria and are being accepted year round. Applicants are first come, first served.
Some organizations allow donors to make recommendations to direct their state tax dollars to particular children. This costs the taxpayer nothing, can come to the school in a child’s name and does not hurt public school funding.
Coworkers, friends and family that are Arizona taxpayers can redirect their taxes, and are often willing, but the process will have to be explained to them. The IBE website has a good explanation and words to say and a sample email. A single filer can redirect up to $1,107 of their tax liability, 90% which can go to tuition (the scholarship organization, not the school, keeps the other 10%). Married taxpayers can redirect up to $2,213. Check with an accountant, or TurboTax, or H&R Block (each agent is trained on how the tax credits work) in order to learn more. Just know that on the surface level, it works, its legal, and it allows families to send their children to Christ the King for FREE.
By law, no one can designate his or her own child and no one is allowed to swap donations with another family, so Christ the King Catholic School asks parents to make their tax-credit donation to Christ the King through Catholic Education Arizona. More than half of the $400,000 in scholarships awarded to students at Christ the King in 2017-18 came from CEA.