Financial Aid
Academic Year 2011-2012
Mounds Park Academy offers financial aid to qualified applicants to enable students of diverse economic backgrounds to attend MPA. Aid awards are based on a family’s assessed financial “need”, the amount of aid available, and the number of applicants. This aid is available to students entering Kindergarten through Grade 12 and does not need to be repaid. MPA believes that the family should be the first resource for funding an independent education. It is our goal to allocate MPA financial aid resources to a diverse community to make an MPA education a reality.
MPA assesses a family’s financial need with the help of an outside agency used by schools nationwide – the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS). Each family applying for aid completes an SSS Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS) form. (In cases of divorce, both custodial and non-custodial parents must complete the form). SSS processes these forms and sends MPA a recommendation of a family’s financial need. MPA’s financial aid committee uses this and other information to determine a family’s financial aid award amount. Families need to re-apply for financial aid every school year.
Because several factors contribute to determining financial need, it is impossible to specify if a family at a certain income level would be eligible to receive aid without going through the financial aid application process. Income, assets, taxes, family size, and number of family members at tuition-based schools are all figured into the financial aid equation to determine need.
The amount of aid available to a student is based on two major factors: 1) The amount of money the school is able to reserve for financial aid; and 2) The number of families applying for aid.
For the 2010-11 academic year, approximately 26 percent of MPA students received aid awards. Financial aid is for tuition only. Additional fees such as books, hot lunch, transportation, classroom supplies, or Panther Club extended day care services are excluded.
If you have indicated on your MPA admission application that you were interested in receiving a financial aid package, one will be sent to you outlining how to apply for financial aid online with SSS. You are encouraged to submit your SSS application as soon as possible. Please submit your application and required documents online at: sss.nais.org. Families applying for admission after March 1, 2011 may still apply for financial aid but funds will be limited.
If you have any questions regarding the financial aid process, please contact Katie Kohler, Student Accounts Coordinator at 651-748-5502 or email kkohler@moundsparkacademy.org.
