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January 2010 Dear Friends, Overview of Our Financial Aid Program For the 2010-2011 school year, Highland Hall will have approximately $500,000 for tuition assistance grants. Grants are awarded based on the demonstrated financial need of a family. The program is administered by the Tuition Assistance Committee (TAC) under the supervision of the Administrative Director. 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 approximately 117 students from some 81 families. When the TAC finds that 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 whichever payment plan that you choose. Highland Hall uses the Grant & Aid Assessment program of FACTS Management Company. We encourage you to use their online application. There are many advantages to the online method: primarily it helps to avoid the inherent delays of paper applications. However, if you do not have access to the online service then we can provide a paper application. Please contact our Business Office if you need an application form. The grant applications will be processed by the TAC on a rolling basis. To have your application considered in the TAC’s first meeting, you must have your completed application and supporting documents submitted to FACTS by our early acceptance deadline. Here are several key dates for the Tuition Assistance Application Process: · Early Acceptance Application Deadline Monday February 1st, 2010 · Regular Tuition Assistance Program Application Deadline Friday March 26, 2010 · Special Circumstance and Newly Accepted Families may apply at any time We expect grant decisions for these applications to be available by mid-February. Applications received after February 1st will be accepted and considered on a first come first serve basis. These grant award decisions will typically be available within 2-4 weeks of submission of the completed application. Please be aware that later submissions may be subject to fewer available funds, depending on the number of qualified applicants who have received funds earlier in the process. Therefore, we encourage you to apply as early 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 of 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 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 http://www.factstuitionaid.com. The steps to follow are: 1. Applicant sign in 2. Create an account (you’ll need to choose a user name and password for this) 3. Select school (using our zip code: 91325) 4. Agree to pay a processing fee (via credit card) 5. 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 or faxing your recent tax returns to 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. If there are recent changes in your personal situation or there are factors that you would like the TAC to consider that are not captured in the standard application, we encourage you to submit a letter directly to the business office describing any additional situation that you would like to be considered. Please send this letter directly to me at the school and not to FACTS. 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, Tim Daulter
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