The John Lancaster Spalding Scholarship is an endowment fund established with contributions from the Diocese of Peoria ROOTED IN FAITH Campaign and named in honor of Archbishop Spalding, the first Bishop of Peoria. If you would like to make a donation that would provide families the opportunity of a Catholic education for their children, click on the button to go to our online giving page. Scholarships of $700,000 were recently awarded for the 2023-2024 school year.

Applications for scholarship grants will be available for the 2024-2025 academic year beginning in November 2023. Assistance is open to students enrolling, or intending to enroll, in any Catholic school, grade kindergarten through 12, located in the Diocese of Peoria whose families are parishioners in the diocese. All grants will be based on financial need objectively assessed. Information about the grants and application procedure will be available here on the website or by contacting any Catholic elementary or secondary school in the Diocese of Peoria in January. Families of students currently receiving grants are reminded that all grants are for one year only, and anyone seeking to renew a grant for next year must reapply.

Tuition assistance other than the Spalding Scholarship is also available. Contact individual schools for more details.

John Lancaster Spalding Scholarship Fund
Protocols and Procedures
2024-2025

Deadline Date: Friday, April 26, 2024

PROTOCOLS:

• A family applying for Spalding Scholarship assistance must be an active member in good standing of a parish in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.
• The student[s] for whom the aid is being sought must be enrolled in good standing [or seeking to be enrolled] in grades K through 12 in a Catholic school located in the Diocese of Peoria.
• All scholarship assistance will be based on a family’s financial need objectively assessed.  The diocese will use FACTS Grant & Aid Assessment Services to determine financial need.
• All scholarship assistance will also be dependent upon the recommendation of the pastor that the family is an active member of the parish in good standing
• If a student changes schools during a school year, tuition assistance grants will follow the student as long as the student is enrolled in and in good standing in a Catholic school in the Diocese of Peoria and the family is a member in good standing of a parish in the Diocese of Peoria.
• All awards are for one school year only.  A family must apply for Spalding Scholarship assistance each school year.
• The number of grants and the amount of each grant for the school year will be dependent upon the funds available and the size and need of the applicant pool.
• Payment of Spalding Scholarship Grants will be made twice a year directly to the Catholic school a student attends.  These grants will be applied to the family’s tuition obligation. It is anticipated that tuition assistance grants will be announced in early June 2024.
• If the student receives an Illinois Tax Credit Scholarship for full or partial tuition for 2023-2024, (qualifications and application information can be found at www.empowerillinois.org), they are ineligible to receive a Spalding Scholarship, and any Spalding award previously granted for 2023-2024 will be rescinded.

PROCEDURES:

• Families interested in applying for tuition assistance from the Spalding Scholarship Fund must complete an online FACTS Grant & Aid Application at online.factsmgt.com/aid. The application and required supporting tax documents must be received online by FACTS by the application deadline date of Friday, April 26, 2024.
• The FACTS application, payment of the application fee, and any required supporting documents are to be transmitted online to FACTS according to their directions.
• Families must also request the pastor submit a recommendation to the Office of Catholic Schools verifying good standing in the parish.
• The application process is complete only when the pastor’s recommendation has been submitted to the Office of Catholic Schools and when a completed parent financial aid application, required supporting documents, and the application fee have been uploaded and submitted to FACTS.  Only completed applications, which include supporting documents, submitted on or before the Friday, April 26, 2024 deadline will be considered when Spalding assistance awards are determined.
• A checklist for a Spalding Scholarship Application, as well as a downloadable version of these Protocols and Procedures can also be found on the forms in the Spalding Scholarships in Catholic Schools folder.

January 19, 2024