“Our scholarships do more than just provide a safe, quality education for Bay Area children. We empower parents with choice, allowing them to stay within their communities, and to give back. It’s an exponential effect.”
Rachel Elginsmith, Chief Executive Officer
In 2022, The BASIC Fund provided over 3,500 scholarships to children in over 240 schools around the Bay Area.
Scholarships
We believe that every child, regardless of their background, neighborhood, family income, or culture, deserves a quality education in a safe environment.
We offer the gift of education to the Bay Area’s poorest children, increasing their statistical chance of graduating high school from less than 75% to 98%. With your help we can continue to make that a reality.
How we are different
Scholarships are awarded on the basis of financial need, not merit.
Families choose the school that best fits their need - not The BASIC Fund.
We keep families together by including all siblings.
To provide stability for our families, we are committed to supporting each child through 8th grade.
The BASIC Fund Story
"Thank you so much for helping us send our daughter to this school. There are a lot of families like mine. God bless you, BASIC Fund!"
Elsa, a BASIC Fund parent
PreK-8th Grade Scholarships
The BASIC Fund provides scholarships to thousands of students each year, and we've supported 26,000 students since we started in 1998. Our scholarships are awarded first-come first-served on the basis of financial need. The awards are based on household size and income, covering anywhere from 25-75% of a school’s tuition, up to $2,500 per student per year.
How we are different
We focus on scholarships because they work. An independent study of our programs concluded that the academic performance of BASIC Fund students improves over just one year, and showed that the high school graduation rates of all BASIC Fund students is over 98%. The results of our model demonstrates the ongoing effectiveness of our approach. Further, 78% of BASIC Fund students enroll in college versus 57% of California low-income students. 65% of our graduates are awarded significant, and often full, scholarships to private high schools in the Bay Area. Program graduates going back to public schools enroll in High Schools with top test scores and excellent parent ratings. For those who go on to district schools, 97% of our graduates are attending, and graduating from high schools with above average API scores.
The BASIC Fund accepts all siblings in each family, keeping families supported and together.
To qualify for tuition assistance families need to meet the following requirements
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At least one child from the family will be entering private school for the first time
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The student will attend a registered private school in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano or Sonoma counties in the upcoming school year
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The student meets all academic and other admission requirements of that school
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The student will be entering PreK-8th Grade
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The family must agree to pay a portion of the tuition, and participate in their children’s education
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The family meets the following income eligibility guidelines
If you have any questions about our qualification guidelines please check out our FAQ page, or just contact us.
Household Size | Maximum Annual Household Income | ||
---|---|---|---|
25% of Tuition | 50% of Tuition | 75% of Tuition | |
2 | $45,780 | $34,335 | $22,890 |
3 | $57,580 | $43,185 | $28,790 |
4 | $69,380 | $52,035 | $34,690 |
5 | $81,180 | $60,885 | $40,590 |
6 | $92,980 | $69,735 | $46,490 |
7 | $104,780 | $78,585 | $52,390 |
8 | $116,580 | $87,435 | $58,290 |
9 | $128,380 | $96,285 | $64,190 |
Household Size includes you and all other family members living at your address for which you claim financial responsibility.
Household Income includes the total gross income of ALL household members.
* BASIC Fund eligibility guidelines are based on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty guidelines effective March 1, 2022.
"I thank you for what you have done because you have given us something no one can ever take away: hope and the courage to strive to reach whatever we aspire to be."
-Tammia, a BASIC Fund alumna, and graduate from Ithaca College