Dear Friends, January 2008
Highland Hall Waldorf School has a grant program to assist families needing financial support to provide a Waldorf education to their children. We hope the following overview of the school’s Tuition Assistance program is of interest to all families, and addresses questions of families considering applying for grants.
Overview of Our Financial Aid Program
For the 2008-2009 school year Highland Hall will have approximately $375,000 for tuition assistance grants. Grants are awarded on the basis of demonstrated financial need of families. The program is administered by the Tuition Assistance Committee (TAC), under the supervision of the Board of Trustees. The TAC includes members of the faculty and parent body. Grants are available to students in every class at the school. This past year the school was able to provide grants to over 80 students from some 50 families.
When the TAC finds a family’s financial position shows a need for assistance it then determines the appropriate grant level based on income, other financial resources and overall family circumstances. Grants can be awarded in amounts up to 50% of the tuition. Grants reduce the tuition due from parents and are applied to the tuition statements under whatever payment plan parents choose.
Highland Hall uses the Grant & Aid Assessment program of 
Management Company. We encourage you to use their online applications. There are many advantages to the online method: primarily it helps avoid the inherent delays of paper applications. However, if you do not have access to the online service we can provide a paper application. Please contact our Business Office if you need an application form.
The application period for returning students runs from
February 1st to March 31st, 2008.
Applications received after March 31st will be subject to a delayed decision and fewer available funds. Applications for new students may be submitted any time; however, we encourage applying as soon as possible.
Grant decisions require a certain amount of social standard setting. Waldorf education strongly supports the benefit to young children of being able to spend time at home with a parent. Families who have one parent staying at home with a young child are encouraged to apply for a grant if this circumstance substantially lowers their income. When all the children in the home are in the grades, the school expects every parent to contribute to the financial support of their student’s education.
The majority of our grants are awarded to single parent families and to families with two or more children. Families whose parents are separated can file either a combined application including information for both parents or separate applications showing each parent’s own information. Divorced parents should each file separate applications. Generally speaking families with two parents and one child will qualify for assistance only in the nursery and kindergarten classes or in cases where illness or other unusual circumstances exist.
Applying for Tuition Assistance
- A new grant application is required every year as grants are not automatically extended from year to year.
- The online applications can be found at www.factstuitionaid.com. The steps to follow are: Applicant Sign In, Create an Account (you’ll need to choose a user name and password for this), Select School (using our zip code: 91325), agree to pay a processing fee (via credit card), and then complete the application forms (there are step-by-step instructions to follow). You can leave and return to the web site as you complete the information.
- Your application will be delivered to the school promptly after you submit the completed forms. You must also complete another important step by mailing your 2007 tax returns to at the address shown on the application web site. FACTS will inform the school when the information on an application has been successfully compared with the tax information.
The Tuition Assistance Committee begins meeting in March to consider grant applications. You will receive a written grant decision as soon as deliberations on your application are completed.
Our first priority for awarding grants is meeting the financial needs of our current students.
If you have questions about the Tuition Assistance program we will be glad to discuss this with you.
Sincerely,
Jim Pedroja
Business Manager
