“What can I do to keep my children here?” | From the President’s Desk

One of the most humbling experiences in this line of work is sitting down with families to assist them in filling out scholarship applications. In early February, our team and several board members volunteered at different schools’ Financial Aid Nights, helping parents navigate the TADS system through language and technology barriers.

The needs of the families we serve become very real when parents lay out where their paychecks are going: mortgage/rent, taxes, heat, electricity, car payments, gas, medical bills, and groceries. There is nothing left to put in the bank. So many of them live paycheck to paycheck. Yet, they long for their children to be in the faith-filled environment of Catholic schools. They long for their children to receive excellent instruction and to be challenged to become all they were meant to be.

They ask, “What can I do to keep my children here?”

How gratifying, how humbling, and how overwhelming it is to be able to look these parents in the eye and assure them that there are SO many people who want to help them keep their students in Catholic education.

Thank YOU for making this necessary mission possible.

Ricky Austin is the President of the Aim Higher Foundation.

And thank you for joining with us as we do this for as many children and families as possible. This current school year, we awarded 2,152 scholarships. The requested number of applications exceeded 6,600. Per our recently closed first application period, applications are up 9% already for 2023-24.

This is what drives us.  The Aim Higher Foundation strives to close the gap between scholars’ financial needs and available aid.  If you have not yet supported the Aim Higher Foundation’s mission or if you are inspired to give more, now is the time to make an impact. Your contribution made now as we get ready to award next year’s scholarships will help determine how many families we can fund for next school year.

But don’t take our word for it. Hear from one of the school leaders during one of the aforementioned Financial Aid Nights:

“Aim Higher takes the pressure off for us and our families.  Having Aim Higher as a partner allows us to tell families, ‘Don’t worry, we can make this a reality for you.’ Because of the work Aim Higher does, we are able to focus on how best to educate the students and serve their families.”
Nikki Giel, Interim Principal, Shakopee Area Catholic School

About the Aim Higher Foundation
The Aim Higher Foundation provides student-based, tuition-assistance scholarships so that more children in the twelve-county Twin Cities metro area can experience the life-changing benefits of a Catholic education. Since 2012, the foundation has awarded more than 14,000 scholarships – worth more than $12.8 million – to children to attend Catholic schools serving K-8 students in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.