Church subsidies of tuition

[MountainTroll]

Naw.  Ain't started a church yet, but It's a great scheme.  I'z thinkin' about the Troll Trinity Church.

Whatcha' think?  ?

So . . . I wuz in the process of settin' up my church, and I thought I would check to see how the catlicks are gittin' away with it.  Here's what I found:  http://stmarysschooloakridge.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/catholic-stewardship-form-2014-2015.pdf

 

That looks like a pretty nice scheme.  If a family can afford full tuition, the family gits to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Catholic School Operating Fund, and the fund will pay an equal or greater amount to the school to subsidize a portion of that family's tuition bill.  That might not be against the T$$AA's financial aid rules, but I'm pretty sure it violates IRS laws.  (At least that's what my accountant and lawyer told me when I wanted fund my kids' tuition that way.)

 

Under Option 4, where the church directly pays a portion of a student's tuition, I cain't figger out how the T$$AA don't consider that "financial aid".  See 3. below  

 

Tuition and Financial Aid

Section 16. If tuition is charged, it must be paid by parent, bona fide guardian or other family member. If a parent,

guardian or other family member secures a loan for payment of tuition, it must remain an obligation of the parents,

guardian or other family member to repay the principle and interest in full with no exceptions. Financial aid will be

allowed under the following conditions:

1. Children of full-time faculty members may be given financial aid, but such students, if transfers, shall be

ineligible for 12 months in any sport in which they have an athletic record for the previous or current year.

2. Financial aid may be awarded on the basis of need, but proof of such need must be filed in the TSSAA

office on forms approved by the Executive Director. In order to determine the basis for need, all schools

awarding financial aid shall use one of the following services in order to determine the basis for need:

FACTS Grant and Aid Assessment (FACTS), Financial Aid for School Tuition (FAST), School and Student

Scholastic Service for Financial Aid (SSS), Family Financial Needs Assessment (FFNA), Private School

Aid Services, or Smart Tuition Aid. Schools must choose one of the companies for all student-athletes. A

committee consisting of School Heads from Division II schools and one ex-officio, non-voting member

from the Board of Control and Legislative Council will meet and make recommendations to the Board of

Control on each student submitted. In addition, this committee will collect information from schools

regarding financial aid statistics, grant procedures, and the overall financial aid program within the school.

The Board of Control will then rule on all cases at the August meeting. The Board of Control shall have

authority to reject the basis of need for students when in its opinion, or in the opinion of the school

committee, the amount of need stated by the financial service cannot be justified.

3. Any loan program, grant program, educational foundation or similar program that is established and/or

administered, in whole or in part, by a school or official of a school is considered financial aid.

Schools shall remove any student from athletic eligibility whose accounts with the school are 60 days overdue.

All records pertaining to financial aid or tuition assistance shall be open to TSSAA upon its request. Each school

shall be responsible for securing necessary authorization to allow TSSAA to review or audit such records.

 

Option 5, where the church provides "Supplemental Tuition Assistance" , really gits dicey.  Not only is that the definition of a Division II school, but the T$$AA requires all Division II schools to use one of several creditable companies "to determine the basis of need", not a group of Pastors.

 

http://www.knoxvillecatholic.com/site/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2013/10/2014-2015-Tuition-Support-Application-Knoxville.pdf

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2014 by MountainTroll

[orangeslice13]

 

 

Let's charge every school 300$ a year and use that money to pay investigators to look into these claims.

Just a thought.

[MountainTroll]

 

 

Let's charge every school 300$ a year and use that money to pay investigators to look into these claims.

Just a thought.

Don't need investigators.  It's a simple question that needs to be answered by the Board of Control and the Chief Executive of the T$$AA.  

 

"Are the Chattanooga Deanery Catholic Schools Education Fund and the Knoxville Region Catholic Schools Operating Fund exempt from Article II. Section 16.3 of the T$$AA By-Laws?"

3. Any loan program, grant program, educational foundation or similar program that is established and/or

administered, in whole or in part, by a school or official of a school is considered financial aid.

 

 

Maybe the T$$AA is just skeered of the catlicks and don't want to spend $3 million dollars on lawyers if Rome decides to git involved.

[orangeslice13]

Don't need investigators. It's a simple question that needs to be answered by the Board of Control and the Chief Executive of the T$$AA.

 

"Are the Chattanooga Deanery Catholic Schools Education Fund and the Knoxville Region Catholic Schools Operating Fund exempt from Article II. Section 16.3 of the T$$AA By-Laws?"

 

3. Any loan program, grant program, educational foundation or similar program that is established and/or

administered, in whole or in part, by a school or official of a school is considered financial aid.

 

Maybe the T$$AA is just skeered of the catlicks and don't want to spend $3 million dollars on lawyers if Rome decides to git involved.

IMO it's cheating and they should go d2

IMO all privates should too

(Maybe create d3 privates not offering aid)

IMO you are correct about the fear of lawsuits.

[tarp]

IMO it's cheating and they should go d2

IMO all privates should too

(Maybe create d3 privates not offering aid)

IMO you are correct about the fear of lawsuits.

I totally agree about creating a DIII for privates not offering aid to athletes.  You don't throw them to the Lions in DII.  Some of the DII school budgets are staggering and their facilities are so far above what a small Church school could hope to achieve.   

Edited October 31, 2014 by tarp

[hatr1234]

All private schools should play in a seperate division as public schools. (period)

[RonMexico3]

So Troll, you are 100% sure a student athlete at one of these schools is receiving financial assistance AND plays varsity sports? If your not sure of this, and you only "assume this has to happen", you are only digging a deeper hole for your reputation to crawl into.

[Monkey Wrench]

All private schools should play in a seperate division as public schools. (period)

 

Don't forget open enrollment publics. 

[RonMexico3]

Don't forget open enrollment publics.

Agreed

[hatr1234]

Don't forget open enrollment publics.

Sorry. Open enrollment publics are not the same as privates. Privates have way more to offer a student than just athletics. Privates should play in the private sector.

[orangeslice13]

Agreed

2nd

[MountainTroll]

Don't want to turn this into another public vs. private thread.  I do think that there should be a public/private split, with the private division having financial aid and non-financial aid subdivisions.  I also think that OZ schools should have a multiplier.

 

The point of this thread is to ask the question of whether a church subsidizing students' tuition constitutes financial aid, as defined by the T$$AA.

 

My opinion, for what it's worth.  If a church wants to subsidize the operating budget of a school it owns to lower tuition for all students, that is fine.  If a school charges a base tuition, and the church writes a check to the school specifically subsidizing only certain students' tuition, that should be considered financial aid.  It may seem like a subtle difference, but it opens the system to abuse, and according to the T$$AA By-Laws, a church paying a portion of a student's tuition is financial aid.  Change the By-Laws to give religious organizations an exemption if you don't like it, but don't ignore the By-Laws as they are currently written.