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Over the past year and a half, the value of Catholic education has become more apparent than ever before. And thanks to the generosity of CEF supporters, CEF has been able to meet the growing need as enrollment across the Archdiocese climbs and schools work to make space. During the ‘21-’22 school year, CEF plans to provide a record $3 million in scholarship funding to low-income students.

See the impact these scholarships are making on students, schools, and communities.

This year, CEF is helping hundreds of students new to Catholic schools embrace the advantages of Christ-centered learning. CEF currently supports students attending 26 schools across northeast Kansas. Many of these schools are located within inner-city or rural communities, and are often the only alternative to underperforming neighborhood public schools. All schools participating in CEF's tuition-assistance scholarship program serve communities experiencing significant financial need, with more than 90% of the students at some schools on free or reduced lunch. At these schools, one in three students rely on a CEF scholarship.

With Catholic schools relying heavily on tuition funds and parish subsidies, schools in low-income areas often struggle just to cover the cost of operations, leaving little capacity for tuition assistance for families in need. CEF scholarships not only allow these schools to open their doors to students most in need, but in many cases, they provide the enrollment support to keep the doors open in the first place. “We have a lot of kids that are CEF recipients,” said Tim Conrad, principal at St. Patrick Catholic School in Kansas City, Kansas. “These scholarships bode well for them as a family, and they bode well for our survival as a school.”