Financial Aid

Financial Aid Guidelines

Ma’ayanot appreciates the decisions necessary to make a yeshiva education a priority for one’s children and is committed to providing tuition assistance to families, based upon documented need, as a supplement to family resources. Ma’ayanot is dedicated to maintaining a system of tuition assistance that is fair and impartial, but which recognizes its fiduciary responsibility to maintain the fiscal health of the school. To the extent that scholarship is a very sensitive area, these guidelines have been created to clearly explain to parents what their responsibilities are, what they can expect during the process, and what approach the school takes to the disbursement of scholarship funds. This policy is not intended to explain the actual internal procedure for determination of scholarship awards.

We encourage all parents to evaluate their own ability to pay school costs and expect families to contribute to the educational cost of their child at the highest possible level given their economic situation. While the scholarship committee is sensitive to the needs of applicants, please recognize that scholarship funds are limited to what can be raised through fundraising efforts.

Philosophy

Ma’ayanot presumes that donors contribute to the school for many reasons, but that any money donated for the purpose of tuition assistance is intended by the donors to be disbursed only to those families with demonstrable financial need. It is the role of the scholarship committee to determine individual financial means within the framework of the school’s scholarship budget.

Parental Responsibilities

Ma’ayanot expects that parents will place their tuition obligation above discretionary expenses and at least on par with other non-discretionary expenses.

Eligibility

It is the policy of Ma’ayanot to expect that, in situations where parents can afford tuition, they will not apply for tuition assistance. Ma’ayanot makes scholarship funds available to those families that demonstrate financial need based upon the school’s scholarship policies. Parents are expected to take primary responsibility for paying the tuition of their children that the school determines the family to be capable of paying. Please note that your daughter must be registered, with registration fees paid or scheduled, in order for your application to be reviewed by the committee. All required supporting documentation must be included with the application by the deadline to be processed.

Improvements in Financial Situation

Scholarship awards are based on expected family financial need for the coming year. An improvement (or worsening) of a family’s financial situation may result in revision of the scholarship provided. Ma’ayanot requires that parents report any material improvement in financial circumstances by letter to the scholarship committee. Failure to report an improvement in financial condition may result in disqualification for consideration of future scholarships.

Determining Factors

In addition to income and assets, the scholarship committee will consider other economic criteria including discretionary spending. If the committee determines that discretionary spending is too high or otherwise not consistent with the family’s reported income, awards may be reduced or denied. Areas in which the scholarship committee focuses on when determining an award include, but are not limited to:

• Car-related payments: there is an expectation that families applying for scholarship do not own or lease luxury vehicles or more than one vehicle per working parent.
• Property: an applicant should own no more than one house or property. The committee considers the value of the property, and other than essential renovations, expects that tuition takes precedence over voluntary home renovations.
• Charity: there is an expectation that aside from modest donations to one’s shul or mikvah, tuition payments take precedence over all other charitable giving.
• Retirement plans: there is an expectation that no more than modest contributions, if any, are being made to 401(k)s or other retirement accounts when asking for scholarship assistance.
• Vacation/Travel: the committee would not expect applicants to have gone on expensive non-business travel or vacations, including Pesach or sukkot programs, regardless of who is paying for them.
• Other tuitions: while the committee will consider tuition obligations of siblings in other yeshiva high schools and day schools, the committee generally does not take into account a sibling’s college tuition (which can be financed with loans) or support for adult children.
• While we recognize the importance of students attending Yeshiva/Seminary/College in Israel, every effort must be made to secure scholarships for such programs. Shana Bet programs are not considered for scholarship purposes.
• Summer programs: while we recognize the value of summer programs, the committee will consider affordability of summer programs (especially for high school aged children). This includes summer camps and other programs, domestic or international.
• Semachot: The committee expects modest spending on Semachot.

Any expenditures in these categories beyond the expectations set forth above must be explained at the end of the application or the application will be returned for further information before processing. If any of the above expenses are paid for by relatives, that spending must still be disclosed on the application. As a rule, the committee believes that families that receive scholarship grants should direct financial help from relatives towards paying tuition.

If children in one family attend multiple yeshiva day schools and/or high schools, then each school must be approached for aid proportional to their tuition rates. As high school is generally higher than day school tuition, we expect parents to pay proportionally more for high school than day school. For example, if a family has one child in Ma’ayanot and one child in a day school with tuition that is 3/4 of the Ma’ayanot tuition, we expect that family to pay the day school 3/4 of what they pay Ma’ayanot and allocate tuition dollars appropriately.

Scholarship determinations (sometimes referred to as grants or awards) from prior years are in no way a guarantee or indication that a similar level of scholarship award will be granted for future years.

Scholarship funds cannot be applied to registration or transportation, which must be paid for all students.

Deadline

The deadline for financial aid applications is May 10th. Applications that miss the financial aid deadline, except in extenuating circumstances such as loss of employment, illness or death, may not be considered. Ma’ayanot cannot guarantee scholarship funds will be available to applicants who do not comply with the deadline. This includes late transfer applications. We strongly encourage all families to complete the application as soon as possible, as applications will be reviewed in the order they are received.

Appeals

The scholarship committee expects that scholarship awards will be accepted as offered. If a family believes that they have additional information, not included on the original application, which would materially change their award, an appeals process will be available to them. Appeals will be dealt with on an individual basis, considering the multiple unique considerations that are present in each case. After receiving their scholarship determination, the family may appeal the decision in writing with a letter or email to the committee. Appeals must be received within 1 week of receiving their determination and are limited to one per family. In your appeal, you must provide any additional information along with a monthly budget; appeals will be denied if the budget is not included.

Transfer Students

Transfer students who are applying for financial aid must submit their application within two weeks of acceptance. Ma’ayanot cannot guarantee scholarship funds will be available for late transfer student applicants.

Future Responsibilities

Scholarships offered by Ma’ayanot are funded by community donations to ensure that every child receives a Jewish education. If your financial circumstances improve in future years so that you can make charitable contributions, then we ask that you prioritize contributions to the Ma’ayanot scholarship fund.

Financial Aid Application Instructions

https://online.factsmgt.com/aid

STEP 1 – Login

Login to FACTS.  If you have created a FACTS account to pay tuition at any school at any time, you have an existing account to log in with. It doesn’t matter what school you were enrolled in at the time that your FACTS account was created. If you have never enrolled in FACTS, create an account. Please see these FAQs from FACTS for help to login or reset your password.  You can also contact FACTS at 866-441-4637 for assistance.

STEP 2 – Complete Application

• Choose “Start Application” to apply for Financial Aid.
• Select the term of 2024-2025
• Select “Add School / Organization” on the first page and add all schools where you will have children enrolled for the 24-25 year.
• PLEASE NOTE:  When you get to the dependents page, you must add each of your children and which school he/she attends for your financial aid application to be sent to the appropriate school. 
• The parent completing the application is considered the applicant. In cases where the parents are married or filing jointly, the second parent is required to be listed as the co-applicant. Any adult living in the household who financially contributes and/or has expenses in your home must be included on the application as a co-applicant. Divorced parents would not list each other as a co-applicant if each parent is filing a separate aid application.
• In the “Additional Questions” section, the first question requires every applicant to submit a written narrative to explain their unique circumstances and why they are applying for aid. The Scholarship Committee stresses the importance of providing this critical information.

STEP 3 – Application Fee

There is a non-refundable application fee of $40.00 per household. FACTS accepts all major credit cards (Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover). This payment goes directly to FACTS and not to any of the participating schools.

STEP 4 – Upload Documentation

The following documentation is required for your application to be reviewed:

• 2023 W2 or 1099.
• 1040 tax form – if you have not filed your 2023 federal tax return by the deadline, please upload your 2022 return along with your tax extension request as a placeholder, and then submit your 2023 federal tax return as soon as possible but no later than July 1, 2024.
• All supporting tax schedules.
• Part of divorce/separation agreement that relates to tuition responsibilities (if applicable).
• If you receive financial aid from another school, please provide a copy of the financial aid letter ( it can be from last year if you haven’t already received the 24-25 letter yet).
• If you have children enrolled in another school, please provide a copy of the tuition statement.
• Last 12 months of credit card statements for all credit cards (or an end of year summary that itemizes transactions), bank statements, mortgage statements, and statements from investment accounts.
• After you submit your application, you may receive a request from FACTS for additional information. Please respond quickly so that your application will be complete by the deadline.