No, awarding tuition aid is the responsibility of the Brophy Community Foundation, a certified school tuition organization (STO). Statutory requirements governing the granting of tuition aid apply to STOs, not schools. Schools may recommend students to the Brophy Community Foundation for tuition aid, however, the criteria for awarding tuition aid and the actual selection of recipients is determined by Brophy Community Foundation.
The only cost Brophy Community Foundation may cover is tuition. It may not be used for any other expenses or fees (such as application fees, tutoring).
Qualified school means a preschool that offers services to students with disabilities, nongovernmental primary or secondary school that is located in Arizona and that does not discriminate based on race, color, disability, sex, familial status or national origin. All teaching staff and personnel that have unsupervised contact with students are required to be fingerprinted. Qualified school does not include a charter school or any program operated by a charter school.
No. A “study” abroad program is not eligible for a scholarship since the child will not be attending a qualified school which is by definition an Arizona school.
Yes, if the summer school class is offered at a private school and the class is taken for credit towards graduation. Summer school at the elementary level is not eligible for tuition aid.
According to the law, Brophy Community Foundation must require that students use their awards on a full-time basis. If a student leaves the school before completing an entire school year, the school must refund the unused portion of the award to Brophy Community Foundation. If the student transfers to another Qualified School, BCF may re-award the funds to the new school.
If the parent has already paid part of the tuition for the academic year, the school may refund that partial tuition paid to the parent. If the parent has not paid part of the tuition or if there is still excess tuition aid money for the academic year after a refund to the parent, the school must return that excess money to one or all of the STOs paying tuition aid. The amount of tuition aid paid from all STOs for one student cannot exceed the amount of tuition for that academic year.
In this case one of two things must occur. The school must refund the tuition aid already paid by the parent back to the parent OR the school must return the amount of the tuition aid that exceeds the tuition balance to Brophy Community Foundation/STO. The school cannot carry forward the excess tuition paid to the following school year. If the school carried forward the excess tuition paid to the following school year, it would be the school granting the scholarship for that academic year. This is not allowed.
No. If there is an overpayment, a refund must be issued by the school to Brophy Community Foundation/STO. A carryover of an overpayment is not the same as Brophy Community Foundation/STO paying in the spring for the upcoming academic year because the tuition is due at that time.
If all students in the grade are required to participate in the offsite class or trip, the cost of the class can be part of tuition and be covered by the tuition aid award. The tuition aid award can only cover the cost of the class and must exclude transportation, food and lodging. If the trip is an optional activity it would normally be covered by a fee that is not part of tuition and therefore is not eligible to be covered by a scholarship.
No. Awards paid can only apply to current year tuition. As long as the school year is not over, the Brophy Community Foundation may award a scholarship for the unpaid tuition.
No. A student that receives ESA money cannot receive any funds from an STO for that same academic year.
If the parent terminates the ESA contract during the academic year there is no conflict for the student to receive Brophy Community Foundation/STO tuition aid for the remainder of the academic year after the termination of the contract. Parents can request a letter from the ESA program stating that their ESA account is closed as of a certain date which then can be provided to the Brophy Community Foundation/STO who may choose to award tuition aid to the student for the remainder of the academic year.
The ESA statute (A.R.S. §15-2402(B)(3)) requires that while a parent has a contract with the ESA program, at no time can a student receive both ESA and Brophy Community Foundation/STO money. This means that if the parent applies for the ESA program during the academic year and signs an ESA contract, any and all Brophy Community Foundation/STO tuition aid money paid to the private school for that academic year must be refunded to the Brophy Community Foundation/STO regardless of when the ESA contract was signed during the academic year.
For example, a parent applies for and receives Brophy Community Foundation/STO tuition aid in spring 2023 for the upcoming 2023/24 academic year and the Brophy Community Foundation/STO sends the tuition aid money to the private school in the spring. In October of the school year the parent decides to apply for ESA funding and signs a contract with the ESA program. Even though the contract was signed in October it applies retroactively to the beginning of the academic year. Therefore the student is no longer eligible for any Brophy Community Foundation/STO money for that academic year and the private school must refund the full Brophy Community Foundation/STO tuition aid that was paid in the spring.
For up to date information on ESAs, visit the Arizona Department of Education website.