The Indiana School Choice Scholarship is one of the most powerful tools available to parents looking to send their child to a school that best meets their specific learning needs. Created in 2011, it provides scholarships for families to offset tuition at participating schools – usually covering 100% of fees for elementary and middle school and 75% of high school fees.
Thanks to new state legislation enacted this year, 97% of all Indiana families are now eligible for the Indiana School Choice Scholarship – up from about 80% just last year. The legislation eliminated a number of “tracks” that laid out various eligibility requirements and raised the maximum income cap for eligibility.
“They’ve both simplified access to the program while also making it almost universally available,” said Dan Kozlowski, managing director of Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana – an organization committed to enriching and expanding access to private, values-based schools. “For example, any family of four making up to $222,000 qualifies for the program. Quality education should be open to everyone, and this expansion makes that a possibility.”
Big Shoulders Fund Northwest Indiana created the NWI Choice Scholar Calculator, a simple and easy-to-use tool that determines a family’s eligibility and scholarship amount in less than three minutes and helps connect parents with schools in their area. 99% of families in the Region qualify, and eligible schools are spread wide across the Lake, Porter, and La Porte counties.
“Before this program, the biggest burden for students attending a Catholic school was the financial one,” Kozlowski said. “Now, that barrier is practically eliminated. We’re incredibly excited because this allows families to truly make a choice about what school is right for their student.”
The success of the NWI Choice Scholar campaign is also leading to success at the local Catholic schools, Kozlowski noted. The new program expansion should foster even further growth.
“These schools are growing and enrollment is increasing,” he said. “Over these last two years we’ve seen enrollment at just about every single one of our schools increase. It’s the first time in decades that we’ve seen an enrollment increase in consecutive years, and we’re very excited to now see a third year of continued growth.”
Kozlowski is also excited to see the Indiana state government take such a significant stride to empower parents to choose what is best for their children.
“They’re giving the tax dollars that those families pay right back to them and saying, ‘It should be your choice where your child is educated,” said Kozlowski. “If it’s a private school – great! If it’s a public school – great! The important thing is that the choice is there for those families. I give the state of Indiana a lot of credit for seeing that and investing in programs to allow families access to quality schools in areas where they might not exist.”
To determine your family’s eligibility for the Indiana Choice Scholarship program, visit nwichoicescholar.org. For more information on Big Shoulders Fund, visit bigshouldersfund.org.
