SOAR! Offers Catholic Education for Local Underserved Students

The SOAR! Scholarship Fund at the Roman Catholic Foundation offers tuition assistance to underserved students who wish to attend Catholic elementary and high schools in St. Louis City and North St. Louis County. SOAR! scholarships are awarded blind to the faith of the applicant. Since its inception in 2015, the SOAR! Scholarship Fund has provided tuition assistance to 364 students, giving them the opportunity to receive a quality Catholic education in St. Louis City or North St. Louis County.

Students, Catholic schools and the community at large all benefit from the SOAR! Scholarship Fund. In 2017, SOAR! high school scholarship recipients–in fact all students at St. Mary’s, Trinity and Cardinal Ritter High Schools–graduated at a rate of 100%, while students attending public schools in St. Louis City and North St. Louis County graduated at rates between 71.8% and 89.9% (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education). Further, students attending Catholic high schools are more likely to obtain additional education beyond high school. Ninety-four percent of 2017 St. Mary’s High School graduates, for example, went on to obtain post-secondary education, while 65.5% of their peers graduating from high schools in the St. Louis City School District did the same (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).

The SOAR! Scholarship Fund plays an important role for our community and our Catholic schools. You can increase the impact of SOAR! by donating to the fund in any amount at any time.

“I want my children to have the best education possible, and I believe that is done by putting God first…This school challenges my children by helping them to grow wiser and not to be afraid of hard work that will pay off in the long run.”

—Parent of two St. Louis Catholic Academy middle-school students