The Saint Francis of Assisi Tuition Assistance Trust was established in 1999 to ensure the ability of Catholic families who might not otherwise send their children to a Catholic school, the opportunity to afford a Catholic education. It was initially funded through interest earned on a $5 million endowment pledged through the 1999 Diocesan Fund for the Future campaign, spearedheaded by the Most Rev. Bishop Edward J. Slattery. In addition to Bishop Slattery, members of the initial Board of Trustees included Rev. Msgr. Dennis Dorney, then Chancellor Henry Harder, then Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Mrs. Arden Glenn, Mr. Kenneth Brune, Mr. John Condon, Mrs. Joseph A. Wolking and Mr. James A. Robinson.
These pioneers understood the challenges of financing Catholic schools so they created a lasting endowment that would assist every accredited Catholic school in the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma by offering need-based tuition assistance for their school families. No family receives full tuition assistance. Every family is expected to pay some portion of tuition.
The Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma is grateful to the men and women who have, and who are now serving on the Board of Trustees. Their willingness to volunteer their time and share their expertise has allowed the corpus of the endowment to grow annually, providing an increase in tuition assistance each year. Since 2000, the Trust has awarded over $6 million in financial aid to approximately 7,000 students. Without these scholarships, many students in the Diocese would never have the opportunity to be transformed by a Catholic education.
Reminders and instructions to apply for funds are distributed to school families annually from each accredited school in the diocese. The annual application deadline is April 15. If you need additional time to complete your application, please contact your school principal and/or pastor.
In October every year, on or near the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Trust hosts an annual fundraiser to grow the corpus of the trust so that more families may be assisted with tuition. The larger the Trust, the more funds can be distributed to more families. No donation is too small.