Photo Courtesy of St. Thomas More School

ATLANTA—Catholic Schools Superintendent Patty Childs is reminding parents to explore the new Georgia Promise Scholarship program. The official student application process opened March 1 and will remain open until April 15. 

Known as Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act was enacted in April 2024. This scholarship program allows families to apply for funding needed for educational expenses. Through the scholarship, eligible families can go to a private school of their choice or use funds for home study. It begins this fall and will be available for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. 

According to the Georgia Promise Scholarship website, the program helps families to use the aid for “private school tuition and fees, curriculum, tutoring services, therapy services, and transportation services,” among others. 

“There are several key benefits to this scholarship,” said Childs.  

She said the advantages include giving families the choice of the best educational environment for their child, the offsetting of tuition and greater accessibility to Catholic education.  

“Catholic schools desire to partner with parents. We are excited to welcome more children into our schools,” said Childs. 

Eligibility relies on three prongs, according to the scholarship program’s website. To qualify, a student should be enrolled in a Georgia public school for the 2024/25 academic year or entering kindergarten for the 2025/26 academic year. The student must reside in an attendance zone of a lower-performing school on the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement list. To see a list of the lower-performing schools visit My Georgia Promise online at  https://mygeorgiapromise.org  or the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement website at https://gosa.georgia.gov. Lastly, the parent of an eligible student will have resided in Georgia for at least a year, with an exception for active-duty military families. 

Students may apply to participate in the program each calendar quarter. Parents should be prepared to provide proof of residency and income verification when applying. 

Students can earn up to $6,500 through the program. An important note is that students who receive this scholarship cannot also receive the Special Needs Scholarship and GOAL scholarship, according to Georgia Promise’s website. 

Childs said that all archdiocesan schools are participating in Georgia Promise.