Types of Awards

Tuition Grants - St. Mary’s tuition grants are awards which are not repaid.

Scholarship Grants - The Director of Admission and Tuition Grant Committee apply on the students' behalf for scholarship grants.

Confidentiality

All records and correspondence are held in the strictest confidence. The only people who have access to the tuition grant files are the Director of Admission, the Tuition Grant Committee, and the Head of School. Business Office personnel have access to award amounts for billing purposes, but not to tuition grant files.

Federal Tax Returns

It is the policy of St. Mary’s to require completed IRS 1040 forms, including all attached schedules and W-2’s for the year immediately preceding the admission or re-enrollment. We reserve the right to not credit the tuition grant to a student’s account until these forms are received. St. Mary’s reserves the right to alter tuition grant awards if the figures presented on the parents financial statement are significantly different from the IRS 1040.

If a family is not required by the IRS to file taxes due to low income, or has not filed taxes, all tuition grant applicants must complete a form 4506-T (Request for Transcript of Tax Return).

If a tax return was filed in the name of the student, St. Mary’s requires a copy of that tax return.

Divorced or Separated Families

In the case of divorced or separated parents, the School asks that both natural parents file an application for tuition grant. The custodial parent will start to file the FAST application and the non-custodial parent will complete the information online. Tax returns are required from all parents, including current spouses (step-parents) of each natural parent.

St. Mary’s School will not be bound by any divorce agreement specifying a parent’s responsibility for educational expense since we were not a party to the agreement nor were we represented at the hearing. However, the School will evaluate both parent’s financial position in determining the family financial need even if one parent asserts that they disclaim any responsibility for the student.

The School considers the obligations of the parents to their new family situations in determining the award, but will not become involved in allocating the award on a proportional basis to the families involved. The responsibility for all communications and payment ultimately lies with the signer of the enrollment agreement.

In cases where one parent has had no contact with the student for more than seven years the requirement that both parents file may be waived. The guiding principle is the lack of contact.

Sibling Allowances

Allowances are made for siblings enrolled in independent schools starting with Kindergarten through fours years of undergraduate college or age 24. No allowance is made for day care as the employment allowance covers this expense.

Parents Who Return to School

If one parent leaves employment to return to school there will be no allowance for the tuition paid on behalf of the parent.

Parents Who Choose Not to Work

If a parent chooses not to work, the school will impute an income figure for the non-working spouse and the family’s total income will be adjusted. The primary responsibility for financing education rests with the parents of the student. Tuition grants, while given willingly and for good purpose, are intended only to supplement the family contribution to the costs of their student’s education. Both parents in many St. Mary’s families work in order to maintain income sufficient to provide an independent school education for their children. It is unfair to ask these dual employment families to subsidize the educational costs of a family who chooses, for purposes of a desired lifestyle, not to work at a level which their education and abilities permit.

Certain non-working or under-employed parents who are caring for pre-school age children, a disabled child, or other relative in the home, have religious or cultural objection or other extenuating circumstances may be exempt.

Depreciation of Rental Property

No loss against income due to depreciation will be allowed. In the case of second homes with large debt, high interest and depreciation and low rental income the policy is to delete the property and loss for this process. The taxes are left as reported on the 1040.

Late Filing

When a family is filing their tax return late, they are required to submit by March 15, IRS Form 4868 – Request for Automatic Extension. This form contains an estimate of income and taxes due.