How Fordham Prep Uses Its Endowment
Currently, the Prep’s endowment funds are primarily used for
student scholarships and financial aid. In order to sustain our
unique diversity, Fordham Prep must continue to build its
endowment.
Tuition increases alone cannot cover the school’s operational
costs. Our Annual Fund provides an important source of
revenue that bridges that gap. We cannot, however, simply rely
on escalating tuition and ever-increasing annual development
goals to fund operations. A significantly larger endowment
would guarantee that any bright young man who qualifies for a
Fordham Prep education will be able to afford one, regardless
of family income. Endowment growth will allow us to preserve
our historic mission and enhance educational outcomes for all
students.
Fordham Prep seeks to be accessible to the most qualified and
able students from a wide range of socio-economic
backgrounds. We work to ensure that tuition remains as low as
possible for all families and competitive with other schools in
the area. We want to increase our ability to provide tuition
assistance so that students whose families can afford only a part
of the total tuition can apply to the Prep and attend. Endowed
scholarship funds help to offset tuition increases and support
the tuition assistance program.
We must increase Fordham Prep’s endowment to m ake sure
that the Prep experience remains accessible to as many boys as
possible.
How You Can Help
Our mission to inspire young men to reflect, to question, to
learn, to pray, to love, to serve and to lead requires
opportunities for meaningful, enriching and rewarding student
experiences. More than ever, alumni, parents and friends are
the life blood of that mission. Endowment gifts, the most
enduring of investments in our community, guarantee income
to provide scholarships and other resources to generation after
generation of future Prep students.
Now, more than ever, the need is great for our entire community
of alumni, parents, faculty, benefactors and friends to help build
the Prep’s endowment. The generosity of our donors represents
a major part of the Prep fulfilling its academic and spiritual
mission.
Increasing our capacity to provide greater financial assistance
to more students is our major focus in growing the endowment.
Is there a recommended or suggested ratio between a school’s
endowment total and its operating budget? Is there a financial
rule of thumb that schools use to determine an appropriate
endowment size? Not really. Some consultants have suggested
a ratio of 3:1, while a case may also be made for 2:1 or 4:1. No
solid research supports any of these ideas.
Our Endowment Policy
The following constitutes Fordham Prep’s endowment policy.
• There is no minimum monetary requirement for a donation to
the endowment.
• A donation of $25,000 is required to establish a dedicated
(named) endowment fund for any purpose, except for a named
endowed scholarship which requires funding of at least
$125,000. The President must pre-approve the purpose of a
dedicated endowment fund.
• A named endowed scholarship fund requires funding
(i.e., collected donations) of at least $125,000 (a quarter-tuition
scholarship) before it is recognized as such. A half-tuition
scholarship requires funding of $250,000, and a three-quarters
tuition scholarship requires funding of $375,000. A fully
capitalized (full tuition) scholarship requires funding of
$500,000.
• A named endowed scholarship fund is acknowledged on
an annual basis through letters to the donor from the
student-scholar recipient. Fordham Prep may also honor and
acknowledge scholarship fund donors through other means
(e.g., events that bring together donors and scholarship
recipients).
• An endowed scholarship fund valued at less than $25,000 or
any endowment donation less than $25,000 that is not
restricted by the donor for a specific endowment will be added
to The 1841 Student Scholarship Fund. Previously named
endowed funds equal to or less than $25,000 have been added
to The 1841 Student Scholarship Fund and are listed by name
as a capital provider to that fund.
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