Scholarships from Partner Organizations
External Scholarships
- Big Shoulders Fund: bigshouldersfund.org
Please contact the principal of your local Big Shoulders Fund school to discuss your scholarship eligibility and the application process. - Chicago Lights: chicagolights.org
- Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund: dmsf.org
- HFS Chicago Scholars: hfschicagoscholars.com
- HighSight: highsight.org
- Horizons for Youth: horizons-for-youth.org
- LINK Unlimited: linkunlimited.org
- PEAK: Partnership to Educate and Advance Kids: peakchicago.org · email PEAK
The State of Illinois has created a tax credit scholarship program called the “Invest in Kids Act.” This state program provides scholarships for low-income students enrolled in private schools. Scholarships will cover up to 100 percent of tuition and eligible fees. Students will be given equal priority in the application and award process if they meet one of these four requirements:
- Renewal Scholars (received a tax credit scholarship for the 2018-2019 school year)
- Siblings to a Scholarship Recipient (a sibling received a tax credit scholarship for the 2018-2019 school year)
- Student resides in a Focus District (all of the city of Chicago is considered a focus district)
- Adjusted Gross Income at or below 185% of the Federal Poverty Level Guidelines (please see the chart below)
Application Process
The application process will be managed by Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). Holy Trinity has partnered with three SGOs in the City of Chicago and we strongly encourage families to apply to all SGOs to increase your chances of being granted a scholarship. All students wishing to receive a tax credit scholarship for the 2019-2020 school year must apply, regardless of whether you already receive a tax credit scholarship for the 2018-2019 school year.
- Big Shoulders Fund
- Application opens at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2019
- HighSight
- Application date TBD, but will be sometime in late January 2019
- Empower Illinois
- Reservations for your spot in line begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. You will need to complete a brief online form containing parent name, contact information and child’s name. This will timestamp your application.
- After reserving your place in line, you can access the application through your student portal on Friday, January 18, 2019. You will receive instructions by email about setting up your student portal after your reservation has been completed. Please have your application completed before January 28 as Empower Illinois will begin awarding scholarships that day.
Income Guidelines
Required Information for Application
- Parent/guardian contact information (e.g. address, city, zip, etc.), including an email address (required) along with supporting documentation for the household address (e.g., utility bill, driver’s license, etc.)
- Number of people in your household
- School district in which your household resides
- 2017 or 2018 federal adjusted gross income (AGI) with a copy of your federal 1040 (first two pages) or signed verification that your family was not required to file a 1040 (signed by parent/guardian)
- Student name and birth date
- Grade for the 2019-2020 school year
- Siblings for which the household will apply under the tax credit scholarship program
- Identify the non-public school being selected by the student in the household
- Identify whether the student is already enrolled at the selected school
If you have any questions, please email taxcreditscholarship@