Tuition Assistance

Saint Joseph’s offers a Tuition Assistance program in both the High School and the Middle School. For families for which the tuition rates seem unaffordable, the Tuition Assistance program offers an individualized tuition rate based on documented need.  Please note that an Application for Admissions must be on file to be considered for tuition assistance, and tuition assistance awards will be communicated following the student’s acceptance.

In addition to the Admissions Application, prospective families are invited and encouraged to complete the Tuition Assistance Application to begin the need-based application process for the upcoming school year. Families who complete the aid application by January 31st receive priority. Families who apply to the school after this date and are in need of tuition assistance are encouraged to apply for tuition assistance when beginning the admissions process. As always, assistance is available based upon documented need and the availability of funds. For more information, contact Lisa Lawrence in the SJCS Business Office.

Students in grades 9-12 may apply for this scholarship annually.  Recipients must qualify for tuition assistance as verified by the tuition assistance application, maintain an 80 average in all classes, perform at least ten extra hours of community service per year, have two letters of recommendation, and submit an essay of 500 words or less. While award amounts may vary from year to year, eight students received this scholarship for the 2022-23 school year totaling close to $18,000. For more information, contact Kevin Meyer in the SJCS Development Office.

SC Educational Credit for Exceptional Needs Children (ECENC) supports students who would benefit from an independent school education because of learning or other differences.  Families may be eligible to receive tuition assistance or a tax credit to offset their Saint Joseph’s tuition. It is the parent’s responsibility to submit their child’s application and all supporting documents through an online portal used by this program, as SJCS does not submit applications on behalf of students. It should also be noted that while SJCS participates in this program, this assistance is managed and funded by a third party and does not involve Saint Joseph’s funding. Applications and eligibility information are available at ExceptionalSC.org.

Many of you may have heard of the Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) Program through the SC Department of Education and some of you may already be recipients of these funds. I am writing today to provide an update to all families. If you do not meet the income requirements mentioned below, you can disregard this email.

The ESTF program began this current year.  Under the current program, any student who transferred from a public school system into a private school and met the income requirements was eligible for a $6,000 scholarship to be used on a variety of educational services that included private school tuition. In September of 2024, the SC Supreme Court deemed the program unconstitutional and private schools were no longer allowed to be recipients of ESTF funds.

Currently, the SC Legislature is in the process of rewriting the bill to restructure the program. The hope is that the decision made in September will be overturned and private schools will be allowed to receive ESTF funds and the new program will be opened to all families who meet the income requirement regardless of what type of school they attended the prior year.

Applications for the 2025 - 2026 school year opened on January 15 and will remain open until March 15, 2025. Currently, to qualify for the 2025 - 2026 school year, the student must:

• Be a resident of South Carolina AND
• Have attended a SC public school during the 2024 - 2025 school year OR will be turning five on or before September 1, 2025, AND
• Have a household income that does not exceed 300% of the federal poverty guidelines OR be a confirmed Medicaid recipient (by individual student). AND
• Not planning to attend a public school in their resident school district for the 2025 - 2026 school year.

As the guidelines are currently written, our current families would not qualify for ESTF funds.  However, we have received guidance stating that our families who meet the income requirements below should apply for the scholarship for the 2025 - 2026 school year in the hope that the program will be revised to include all students who meet the income requirements regardless of what school they attended this year. If your family meets the income requirements in the chart below, please complete the application, which can be found here, by March 15, 2025. The application does include the question of what type of school the student attended for the 2024 - 2025 school year. We have been instructed to have you choose “Other.” You can then enter Saint Joseph’s Catholic School. There is no charge to complete this application.  There also is no guarantee at this time that any of our families will be eligible for ESTF funds. However, we do not want to miss out on meeting the deadline should the program be revised which we are told is a strong possibility.

It appears that the state is looking for Modified Adjusted Gross Income when determining eligibility.  If you have any questions regarding the ESTF program, please let me know. I will continue to provide updates to our families as they are made available to me.

Federal Poverty Guidelines

SJCS recognizes academic excellence by naming two rising ninth grade students as Saint Joseph’s Scholars. This merit based scholarship covers one-half student tuition and is renewable each year, provided that the student maintains at 3.5 cumulative GPA and an excellent disciplinary record. In order to receive this distinction, a candidate must achieve grades of 90% or above in 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grades, must score in the 90th percentile on the SJCS Admissions Test administered in  December orJanuary, and must embody the mission of the school.

This scholarship was established in 2020 in memory of the school’s Founding Board Chair, Margaret Ann Moon.  She believed that Saint Joseph’s should be accessible to all qualified students in order for the school to realize its Catholic mission.  Any 5^th grade student who currently does not attend (nor have siblings attending) an Upstate Catholic school (including SJCS) is invited and encouraged to apply.  SJCS will award up to five Middle School (half-paid tuition) scholarships to rising sixth graders based upon a combination of academic merit and need.  There is no application fee to apply for this scholarship, and it is renewable each of the remaining two years of Middle School as long as academic conditions are met while enrolled at SJCS.  Award winners are still eligible to apply for additional tuition assistance, if needed, during their middle school and high school years. Parents of interested applicants should complete both the:

• Margaret Ann Moon Middle School Scholarship Application
• The Tuition Assistance Application (available in November) by no later than March 1st for the upcoming school year.

Applicants must complete the school’s Admissions Test by mid-March, and awards are announced in late April.

• Tuition due in a single lump sum by July 20

• Tuition due in two installment payments by July 20 and January 20

• 10 Monthly installments July through April

• 11 Monthly installments July through May

The Tuition Credit Program is designed to reward current Saint Joseph’s families for actively recruiting new families to Saint Joseph’s. When a new family applies for admission, they have the opportunity to name the Saint Joseph’s family on their application who recommended SJCS. After the new student(s) attends school for one quarter, the recruiting family receives a $500 credit on their next tuition bill.

This credit is intended for current SJCS families that recruit new families to enroll at Saint Joseph’s. The recruited student(s) must not be currently enrolled or have ever been enrolled at Saint Joseph’s.

• The credit is not eligible for sibling enrollment of an existing or former student. Again, this is geared toward recruiting new families to Saint Joseph’s.
• The tuition credit will not be awarded for recruiting a rising 6^th, 7^th or 8^th grader who is currently enrolled in a Catholic school in the Upstate.

The recruited student(s) must meet the school’s admissions criteria and remain at Saint Joseph’s for at least one quarter. The tuition credit will be issued on the student billing, after the student has attended classes for one quarter.

There will be no checks issued for the credits and no payments to families without students currently at SJCS. Families will also be given the option of donating their credit back to SJCS in the form of an Annual Fund gift. Families may not request that the credit be applied to any other families.

The credit is $500 per new family enrolled, not per child enrolled, so a new family with multiple children would earn the referring family $500.

Each new family may only list one referring family. In case of dispute, the original application will be the sole source of determining the referring family, if any, eligible for credit. Once the application is submitted, the referring family cannot be changed.

If a new family decides to enroll after the school year has begun, then the recruiting family will receive a prorated credit. (Example: When the Smiths enroll their son in January, they are charged 50% of the annual tuition. The referring family receives 50% of $500, or $250 credit on their tuition bill, after the Smith child completes one quarter.) If the Smith’s son enrolls the following year, the referring family is eligible to receive the balance of the $500 credit (i.e. the remaining $250) after the start of the new school year.

Employees with children currently enrolled at Saint Joseph’s are eligible to receive the credit if they help recruit a new family, but coaches are not eligible to earn credits, as this would be a violation of the SCHSL.

Please contact Jenny Starks, the Director of Admissions, with information about prospective families, or with any additional questions regarding this program.