Dayspring is happy to partner with the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program. Because of this program, we can offer some tuition assistance to students who would need to attend a school (individual school, not district) identified as failing by the PA Department of Education.
How does the OSTC program work? The Commonwealth determines which schools fall into the bottom 15% of public schools and identifies those students as being eligible to receive OSTC tuition assistance from private schools. However, being part of a failing school is not a guarantee of a full scholarship at Dayspring. The funds are not unlimited; the amount of money available through OSTC varies based on the number of contributors to the program.
The OSTC program allows businesses to partner with schools to defer tax payments that are usually paid to the state to scholarship organization schools like Dayspring. For example, 10 businesses can choose to defer their tax payments to Dayspring, for a total of $100,000 being available at Dayspring for qualifying students. To qualify, a family must complete the following:
- Submit an application to Dayspring online through https://dca-pa.client.renweb.com/oa/index.cfm?memberid=359. You must complete an application for each child you want to enroll.
- Bring your child to Dayspring for New Student Intake Testing, which the Admissions Office will coordinate with your family.
- Bring parents and Upper School children (entering grades 6-12) for your New Family Interview, which the Admissions Office will coordinate with your family.
After you are accepted, Dayspring’s tuition assistance process requires that all parents who want to be considered for any form of Tuition Assistance complete our Tuition Assistance Request application, which is processed through our third-party tuition management system, FACTS. FACTS helps Dayspring determine how to allocate tuition assistance funds to help as many families as possible, and available OSTC funds are factored in at this time. To ensure consideration for Dayspring’s Tuition Assistance program and OSTC, please apply for assistance after completing steps 1-3, as listed above, by April 17.
For information about ways your family may benefit from OSTC support, contact John Riddell, Finance Director at jriddell@dayspringchristian.com.
If you own a business and want to help Dayspring support families from failing schools, contact John Riddell or Joanne Martin, Development Director, at jmartin@dayspringchristian.com.