In alignment with our vision, mission, and values, the Boulder JCC is committed to making our programs accessible to all families. To support our need-based scholarship program, annually, we raise scholarship funds and maintain the Ablowitz Early Childhood Education Fund and Ellie Pearl Berg Memorial Early Childhood Center and Camp Endowment Fund, whose annual distributions support ECC and Camp Scholarships. In addition, JEWISHcolorado may provide additional scholarship awards to some families. Our scholarship program is designed to help families and our community in need be able to attend our school by helping support a portion of their tuition.
Here’s an overview of our scholarship process and commitment to financial accessibility:
Process
Our need-based scholarship program is available to families who demonstrate financial need.
- Our process is confidential and only our finance team sees any financial information associated with names
- After families register for our ECC and have a spot, they can apply for scholarships through a system called FACTS. There is a small application fee paid by the applicant to apply. The application includes submitting W-2 and tax information, projected income, and what amount they can afford to pay towards their children’s tuition. First round applications are generally due in early springtime.
- A dedicated Scholarship Committee, which reviews the pool of applications anonymously, evaluates each request. This committee considers multiple factors, prioritizing family financial information, especially Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) and total tuition costs for each family.
- Awards are generally announced in May for the following school year.
- JEWISHcolorado may provide additional scholarships to some families after we share the awards with the families.
- Additional scholarships outside of this process are potentially awarded off cycle on a rolling basis if funds remain available.
Considerations about how awards are determined:
- All scholarships are need-based
- Generally, the amount or percentage of scholarship awarded decreases as a family's Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) increases.
- We also consider the number of children enrolled in Boulder JCC programs, and other financial or relevant qualitative information families provide, such as extensive medical liabilities.
Commitment
Each year, the Boulder JCC commits to a specific amount of scholarship dollars during our budget planning. This amount is distributed to families regardless of our annual fundraising outcomes and endowment distributions. Generally, as our tuition rates increase, we strive to raise the amount of the scholarship fund to meet growing financial needs within our community.
Each year, there is variability in the number of applicants and requested amounts. While these numbers may change, we always budget scholarship funds to ensure financial support remains available for families who need it most. Therefore, depending on the number of applicants and requests, the size of the awards and the number of awards may vary from year to year.
For reference, while each year the number and amount of scholarships vary, in ‘23-’24, 20% of our families received scholarships, and 61% received either scholarships and/or some form of tuition assistance through the Boulder JCC. Supporting families in our community is critical to our mission, and we continue to work towards increasing the resources available to make our early childhood education programs accessible to all.
Have questions? Please reach out to our:
- Admissions Team for questions regarding applications and timelines
- Finance Team for questions regarding financial specifications
- Development Team for questions about donations or endowments