Financial Aid for 2021-22
-
Introduction: We understand that the full cost of tuition at St. Michael is beyond the means of some outstanding students and families. In order to make St. Michael affordable to as broad a range of families as possible, the school provides assistance to students with demonstrated need.
Financial aid is possible through the generosity of our donors, in their contributions to the Cardinal Fund, or the Guardian Angel Fund, or through family or foundation scholarships . Regardless of the source, the process for applying is the same: all potential recipients are asked to follow the procedures below.
Policies: We are open to giving financial aid to all families with demonstrated need; however, we prioritize aid for Catholic families, especially those who are active and tithing in their parish (Rate I), as long as they apply for aid by the priority deadline. No one comes to St. Michael "for free." Parents must be realistic in understanding that St. Michael awards partial financial assistance, and that the responsibility for affording the school rests primarily with the family.
Students must have been accepted for next year, with the registration agreement returned and fee paid, before families will be considered for an award. We need to know that families seeking aid are "all in" and not simply "shopping." In the sad but unlikely event the family goes through the financial aid process and the school cannot meet the family's demonstrated need, even after a discussion with the principal, the parents can send a hardship request to the principal to be released from the terms of the registration agreement and the registration fee will be refunded. Such requests must be made by June 1.
Also, parents of athletes, please be aware that through the rules of the AHSAA, if a student is coming to us from outside of the Mobile Archdiocesan schools in his or her first year, and receives financial aid, that student is ineligible to play varsity athletics for that year. This policy does not affect eligibility for junior varsity or middle school athletics, nor does it impact a student in this second year with us. For more information about eligibilty for athletics, go to this link.
The financial aid process is strictly confidential.Process:
- In the early second semester each year, we provide a link (below) that asks you to make declarations of your income and expenses through Covenant Tuition Services, or CTS. This must be done each year for the upcoming school year, even if you qualified from previous years. Students must be in good academic and disciplinary standing and families must have demonstrated a reliable record of meeting their tuition commitments to be eligible for new aid.
- CTS assesses the amount of financial aid you need and sends notification to St. Michael. A administrative committee will review these results and will send you a notification letter in April outlining what the school can offer your family.
- If this award is sufficient, you will be asked to sign the letter of agreement and return it. This agreement will then define St. Michael's financial arrangement with the family. If this award is not enough, we ask you to call us to discuss. Though the financial aid process is partly formal, we want relationships to govern!--so please, make this call.
- The priority deadline for applying for financial aid is March 31. To complete the process, you must be able to submit federal tax forms from 2020 as verification, so federal taxes will need to be completed before you can apply. We will consider financial aid requests beyond this date, but since most of the monies will be distributed at the priority deadline, scholarship monies will be considerably tighter thereafter.
- Financial aid notification letters are mailed out in early to mid-April each year.
The cost of the financial application is $25, which will paid directly on line to "Covenant Tuition Services." By applying, you are indicating you've read all of the above, understand and agree.