Facts About MCSF

HOW MCSF GOT STARTED

In 1999 a national scholarship fund offered 40,000 scholarships to elementary school age children in poverty around the country. One and a quarter million children applied. Of the 1,625 Maine children who applied, 44 received scholarships. This revealed the extent of the unmet need for financial assistance for school age students and inspired the founding of the Maine Children's Scholarship Fund.

WHO BENEFITS

The MCSF is a non-profit educational organization that provides scholarships to students K-12 for tuition to public or private schools or home schooling expenses.

ELIGIBLITY

Maine Families with an income at or below the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch level are eligible. Families may renew their scholarship as long as they continue to meet the income guidelines.

RECIPIENTS

In 2000-2001 the MCSF awarded scholarships to 28 children from 14 families. Of these, 8 families have two children, one family has 3 children, and 2 families have 4 children. In 2008 we awarded scholarships to 54 students from 23 families.

The amount of our scholarship covers only a part of the tuition and families are required to make up the difference. Please look at the income guidelines and think about the heroic effort these parents are making for their children's education.

FUNDING

In 2000 we received our funding from 2 sources :

1. A challenge grant of $50,000 from a national organization, Children First America, a group that is devoted to encouraging scholarship funds for children across the country

2. A matching gift of $100,000 from several local philanthropists

Today we receive our funds from private donations and grants.

SCHOLARSHIP SELECTION

We receive many more applications than can be funded . We use random selection to award scholarships. Those not chosen are added to the waiting list. There are currently 1,325 students on the waiting list.

UNMET NEED

Our only source of publicizing scholarships is word of mouth . Our work with private schools and families indicates a substantial unmet need in Maine for K-12 scholarships.

Families are ready and willing to actively contribute to their children's education, but are held back by financial barriers. We are partnering with private schools to help families do what they believe is best for their children.