The Scholarship Foundation publishes large amounts of data, and you can visit this page to explore it at any time during the year. The Key Performance Indicators, Program Dashboards and Equity Dashboard have been updated with 2024 results, and with those updates come some important notes about the last year:
- The Scholarship Foundation provided funding of just over $6.5M to 554 students in 2024. Both the total and the number of students awarded are 10-year highs.
- While increasing direct financial aid to students, the Foundation maintained focus on strategic goals set by the Board of Directors. Total loans of $1.219M decreased by 6% from the previous year, and total grants increased by 16% to a new high of $5.28M. Similarly, the number of students receiving loans decreased, and the number of students receiving grants increased, including 391 students who did not require a loan at all because the grant sufficiently closed the gap in their higher education financing.
- Starting in 2024, The Student Aid Index (SAI) replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as the metric used by the US Dept of Education to determine financial aid eligibility. The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis often adjusts this number to account for additional circumstances or needs that students face which are not taken into account by the SAI. The average SAI for Scholarship Foundation students in 2024 was $1,264. In concept, this number is the amount a family might be expected to contribute to the student’s education. After adjustments, the average drops to $559, indicating that the level of need among students and families is greater than ever.
- The Scholarship Foundation publishes an average 6-yr Graduation Rate, averaging over the last 10 years. With the 2024 data included, that average has changed from 73% to 72%, and is still above the recent national benchmark average for all students of 64% and far better than the latest benchmark from the Pell Institute for low-income students of 16%.
- The Scholarship Foundation’s Equity Dashboard now includes 4 years of data, demonstrating continued commitment to matters of racial and economic equity.
Presenting data in this interactive format on the Foundation’s website is an important part of the organization’s ongoing commitment to accountability and transparency. Please feel free to explore the data further and direct any questions or comments to Rob Foley, Director of Information Technology.
