FAQs
What is the Angel Scholarship Fund?
The Catholic Community Foundation has established The Angel Scholarship Fund as a brand new opportunity to support our Catholic Schools and students in the Diocese of Cleveland.
Begun in 2021, it is possible to “turn tax dollars into tuition” by making a charitable contribution to the Angel Scholarship Fund that is eligible for a 100% tax credit on the donor’s State of Ohio income tax return for the year the contribution is made. The maximum credit amount is currently $750 ($1500 if married filing jointly, where each spouse donates $7500
Are Catholic Community Foundation and the Angel Scholarship Fund part of the Diocese of Cleveland?
The Angel Scholarship Fund has been established to receive funds for and grant scholarships to Catholic school students throughout the Diocese of Cleveland. The Catholic Community Foundation (CCF) and its Scholarship Granting Organization are separate corporations and 501(c)(3) organizations that support the ministries of the Diocese of Cleveland.
The Scholarship Granting Organization of the Catholic Community Foundation (the “Angel Scholarship Fund”) was in the inaugural class of organizations certified by the State of Ohio as a “Scholarship Granting Organization” (SGO). The Angel Scholarship Fund has been recertified as a Scholarship Granting Organization through December 19, 2023. At that time, we will once again apply for recertification.
What is Ohio’s new Scholarship Tax-Credit Program?
Begun in 2021, the Ohio General Assembly established a new program whereby Ohioans can receive a 100% tax credit against Ohio income tax liability for cash contributions to certified organizations that grant scholarships to students, including those attending Catholic schools. The maximum credit amount is currently $750. If you are filing a joint return and both you and your spouse make eligible donations, each of you can claim this credit (up to $1,500 total).
Who will benefit from this program?
The program will benefit Ohio Catholic schools and students by prioritizing scholarships for low-income families that seek higher-quality education opportunities for their children. It will also offer taxpayers the ability to reduce their Ohio state tax liability by making a contribution to Scholarship Granting Organizations such as the Scholarship Granting Organization of the Catholic Community Foundation (“Angel Scholarship Fund”). This is a dollar-for-dollar tax credit against your tax liability, or the tax you owe to the state of Ohio.
How does this new program work?
Donors can make undesignated contributions to the Angel Scholarship Fund, and the Angel Scholarship Fund can then award to any eligible student from any Catholic school,
or donors can make a contribution designated to benefit students at a particular school.
The Angel Scholarship Fund, like any SGO, is required to prioritize “low income” (under 300% of the poverty threshold) recipients, but otherwise the law does not place limits on which K-12 students can be served or the number of scholarships that can be awarded. This program holds tremendous potential for bolstering our efforts to ensure the viability of our Catholic schools and has the potential to benefit every Catholic school in the diocese.
Will Angel Scholarships be awarded to applicants that are not “low income?”
All K-12 students that attend a school in the Diocese of Cleveland and apply are eligible to receive an Angel Scholarship. While applicants that are under 300% of the poverty threshold will be prioritized, applicants that are over this threshold are also eligible for an Angel Scholarship, based on availability of funds.
When will scholarships from the Angel Scholarship Fund be granted?
ASF designated contributions received in the current calendar year will be disbursed to schools the following year and applied to tuition for the fall of that year (e.g., contributions received in 2023 will be applied towards tuition for the 2024/2025 school year. Schools will be able to recommend Angel Scholarship recipients of their designated contributions beginning in the first quarter of of the following year.
* Please contact the school directly to apply for a "designated" Angel Scholarship, and/or complete a FACTS application to be eligible for an "undesignated" Angel Scholarship.
Who can contribute to the Angel Scholarship Fund?
anyone. However, only those persons with Ohio tax liability may be eligible for the tax credit.
Is there a cap on the amount I can contribute to the Angel Scholarship Fund?
No! Contributions of any size will be accepted, and generous giving is encouraged as a means for helping more students receive a scholarship towards a Catholic education.
Can my contribution be directed to the school of my choice?
Yes. Donors to the Angel Scholarship Fund have the option of making:
An undesignated contribution that supports schools and students across the Diocese of Cleveland. You can find a list of schools at www.dioceseofcleveland.org/schools.
A contribution that is designated to benefit students of a specific Catholic school.
In either case, scholarships to low-income families will be prioritized. Please note, designations can be made to schools, not students.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Catholics (and others) get to support Catholic schools out of money that they are already paying in taxes. That sounds that state support of religious education.
ReplyDeleteThe money is prioritized for low income students. It does give more low income students the opportunity for a private school education which may or may not be superior to that at the local public school.
On the other hand, it potentially offers religious organizations a very attractive "recruitment tool" to offer to children and families that have no other real alternatives.
It does keep the schools and the state pretty separate, just like when people give charitable contributions. After all many people now receive services from Catholic Charities which are funded in part by state and local government.
I have mixed feelings. There is a similar program in my state that got passed, but now there is a petition drive to get it un-passed. I don't think anyone is against a tax deduction for a scholarship fund. But the tax credit is raising some hackles. I guess I am for it if it actually enables some low income kids to get into a better school. It shouldn't be used for de-facto segregation, which was a problem in post-Civil Rights Act southern states Some people claim that it takes money out of the public schools. But the problem in a few urban public schools here (actually just a couple of them) isn't lack of money. It's violence.
ReplyDeleteInteresting study of who goes to private/Catholic schools and how student demographics have changed since 1968. https://www.educationnext.org/who-goes-private-school-long-term-enrollment-trends-family-income/
ReplyDeleteEducation Next is an organization generally friendly to alternatives to conventional public education, but seems to do a fair reporting and research.
Hi Jean - my McAfee antivirus software flagged that site as "potentially risky" or some such, so I chickened out and didn't go to it. Am I right in thinking that attending Catholic schools has become a good deal more upper-middle-class since 1968? That was our family's experience.
DeleteYikes, I will run over to see if my bank account has been hacked yet!
DeleteYes, enrollment among low income groups has remained steady, while middle-class enrollment has declined precipitously.
Black student enrollment is up slightly in all income groups, while Hispanic enrollments are down across the board.
Lansing Catholic High School is representative of the trend. Students are largely from wealthy families, and there are a small number of scholarshiped students, mostly black athletes.
Incidents of racial name calling, and black students threatened with suspension for "taking a knee" before games have been in the news. That's not a function of the religious nature of the school, of course, but of the stark income divide.
Taking a knee is a protected form of free speech. It is non- violent. As a member of a racially and culturally diverse family I get frustrated by privileged whites who refuse to understand WHY black athletes often take a knee. It is an attempt to wake people up - anything “woke “ threatens too many whites - to the reality that while much progress has been made since the 60s there is still a lot of racism in this country that pledges equality for all. We’re not there yet.
DeleteAnd the afraid of “ eke” Republicans also claim that Jan 6 was free speech and “legitimate political discourse”. But silently taking a knee cost a talented young footbal,player his career.
DeleteIt's protected in that they can't put you in jail for it. But schools can impose various policies and penalties on behavior, dress, language, etc.
DeleteThere was a "listening" session after this incident at the school that the athletes, their parents, and a couple admins attended. Not sure what happened after that, but Catholic schools are not subject to the same public scrutiny as public schools. Which is why I oppose giving money to them and other private institutions.
I also can't see why I should support Catholic schools thru the diocesan appeal. It is basically a subsidy for rich brats. We couldn't have continued to send The Boy if we'd wanted to. Raber still contributes to the DA out of his discretionary fund, but I prefer not to know how much.
Hope you are doing a bit better these days, Anne. It feels empty to keep saying "thoughts and prayers," but they do continue.
DeleteJack - Illinois has had a similar program for the last few years 5-7 years, although our state legislature recently eliminated it. Ours permitted a donor to donate up to $1 million each year, with the tax credit being 75%. As in Ohio, the donations are made to organizations which distribute the donated money to qualifying schools.
ReplyDeleteCatholic schools around here saw the program as as lifeline for some low-income students and fought hard to keep the program in place, but they lost the legislative fight.
As Katherine stated, those who opposed it (in our case, primarily teacher unions) claimed that it took money away from public schools. That is true, in the sense that tax credits are not collected by the state, and so in theory they represent lost tax revenue for any/all of the state's expenses, including education. Still, compared to the amount of money the State of Illinois collects in taxes ($50 billion in 2022), these tax credits to support private schools were a tiny fraction - they were capped at $100 million annually, which is 0.2% of the amounts collected.
My assumption is the political opposition to the program is more attributable to antipathy to any program which offers school choice.
The Catholic high school I attended funded something like 10 scholarships per year via this program. This is out of a student body of approx. 800 students. So not a huge impact, but obviously important to these 10 students and their families.
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