Aggregate Grants Hit Impressive $6.4 Million
Foundation Slogan “The Answer is YES!” Fulfilled for Fourth Straight Year
(Louisville, Ky.) – The Catholic Education Foundation of Louisville (the “Foundation”) and the Archdiocese of Louisville today jointly announced that tuition assistance for Catholic elementary school families across central Kentucky reached new heights as the fall school term begins. This is the fourth year in which the two organizations have teamed up to help more families who cannot afford the full cost of a Catholic elementary school.
Tuition assistance awards reached an all-time high 3,100 students, eclipsing last year’s record 3,000, while aggregate tuition assistance funding hit an amazing $6.4 million.
Foundation President Richard A. Lechleiter remarked, “Thanks to the incredible generosity of our donors and the unwavering support of our funding partners, we provided tuition assistance awards to every single family who demonstrated a financial need – for the fourth year in a row! This astonishing result serves as a great testament to the power of Catholic education and our community’s recognition of its importance and its future. While we are early in our journey to provide solutions to Catholic school families, our entire community is truly embracing the excitement and opportunity behind our slogan, “The Answer is YES!”
The Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D. D., Archbishop of Louisville, reflected with gratitude on the significant progress to improve access to Catholic education. “The selfless generosity of the faithful of all 110 Catholic parishes and their pastors across central Kentucky to support the education of our young people is so meaningful to the future of Christ’s Church. These parish communities will combine to provide over $1 million annually to ensure that a Catholic school is accessible to families who yearn for this gift but cannot afford it. I am deeply thankful that we can come together with our funding partners to create so much hope for so many families. What began four years ago as a “New Day” in Catholic education continues to gain momentum, positively impacting the lives of more and more families each year!”
Under the Foundation’s leadership, a collaborative partnership among the schools, the Archdiocese of Louisville, School Choice Scholarships, Community Catholic Center and the Foundation itself combines resources and shares data to determine the best possible award for each family who qualifies for financial assistance. Mr. Lechleiter added, “Now in our fourth year, this creative new way of allocating funds ensured that each family received a fair award and that more families were assisted than ever before. In many cases, each funding partner provided a portion of the funding that a family needed to make a Catholic education possible for their children. What could be better!”
The $6.4 million of funding was provided by the Foundation ($3.0 million), parishes and schools ($1.8 million), the Archdiocese of Louisville ($1.3 million), and School Choice Scholarships and Community Catholic Center ($300,000).
The Foundation and its funding partners are now providing tuition assistance to more than double the number of Catholic elementary students from just four years ago. Foundation Board Chair D. Hank Robinson commented, “Our plan to expand the Catholic school experience to those who cannot afford its full cost is working. Through our message of growth, outreach and inclusion in Catholic schools, the Foundation and its funding partners are creating sustainable solutions for more families than ever before who strive to provide for this life-changing gift for their children. Indeed, “The Answer is YES!”
The Archdiocese of Louisville sponsors 40 elementary schools with 13,500 students and nine high schools with 6,000 students across central Kentucky.
