Board, staff, and student policy fellows gathered about one year ago to dream about the organization’s future. None of us foresaw what we now face; but all of us are still strong in purpose and standing with students.
Today is April 15, a deadline for U.S. taxpayers and for applicants to The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. Applications to the Foundation for approximately $7.5 million in scholarship grant and interest-free loan funding budgeted for the 2025-2026 school year close at 11:59 pm tonight. This year, the deadline occurs within a great deal of swirling uncertainty.
The unknowns, at this point, are well-publicized and entirely outside the control of a regional nonprofit like the Foundation, regardless of its 105 years of clear purpose and impressive outcomes*:
- Will FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) be processed in a timely manner and will data be transmitted to schools as needed?
- Does a dramatically reduced federal workforce in the departments of education, treasury, or small business have the experience and expertise to deliver Pell Grants and other federal aid?
- Are executive orders associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion adversely affecting institutional aid previously offered to students?
- Are colleges providing physical and emotional safety for students who are Black, Brown, from households of mixed immigration status, and/or are engaged in lawful exercise of their rights?
- Can those who identify as a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth or sexuality that does not conform to a specific or dominating standard be both authentic and safe at their schools?
These questions have no reliable answers at present, given the multitude of edicts, reversals, lawsuits, and lapses in credible communications at all levels of the education and economic systems upon which The Scholarship Foundation and its students rely (see Standing with Students).
And so, on April 15, The Scholarship Foundation is poised to do what it always does. We stand with students.
Over the last six weeks, a series of nine meetings (150 person-hours) were held to engage the staff and board of the Foundation in scenario planning, policy review, financial forecasting, and constituent engagement (students and donors). A contingency plan has been created and is based upon these priorities:
- Students first with highest priority on currently funded, continuing students.
- Direct support/service primary (advocacy will follow).
- Commitment “through” graduation (not just “to”) factored into all financial decisions.
- Flexibility to act (within boundaries set by board).
Accordingly, The Scholarship Foundation will meet any disruptions in higher education and federal funding affecting its students by:
- stepping in to offset potentially discontinued federal and institutional aid to continuing students;
- increasing maximum scholarship awards where possible;
- intensifying efforts to support students’ safety, including increasing awareness of issues and rights, being even more present and available on campuses, and preparing additional resources for students regarding support or options for transferring to another school;
- attending to student mental health needs;
- and, supporting the specific planning challenges facing families of mixed immigration status.
In times of uncertainty such as these, The Scholarship Foundation turns to its legacy of flexibility and strength. Through their education, the students of The Scholarship Foundation are preparing themselves for what lies ahead, and our community can at least be certain that a stronger democracy will come from the scholarship they pursue each day.
– Faith Sandler
* The Scholarship Foundation receives no federal funds and thus has experienced few direct impacts of federal actions. Foundation-supported students and the schools they attend are quite directly affected by federal funding fluctuations.
