Deadline approaching to apply for BOOST scholarships

The clock is ticking to apply for scholarship money from a state program designed to help students from low-income families in Maryland.

Families interested in receiving nonpublic school tuition support from the Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) Scholarship Program have until June 30 to apply.

BOOST is a state program that provides scholarships at Catholic, other religious and secular nonpublic schools for students eligible for the free or reduced-price school meals program.

Since 2016, BOOST has long enjoyed bipartisan support in the legislature, but ran into headwinds during the recently concluded legislative session when newly elected Gov. Wes Moore tried to cut $2 million from the $10 million program. Even more worrisome to BOOST advocates, the Democratic governor also included language in his budget that would have effectively phased out the program by limiting it to current scholarship recipients and their siblings.

After more than 40,000 Marylanders petitioned lawmakers with calls and emails, however, the General Assembly preserved funding at the $9 million level and got rid of the language that would have phased it out.

“We saw a huge number of people responding to the challenge to the program and letting legislators know how very important it is to them,” said Garrett O’Day, deputy director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, the public-policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops.

O’Day added that BOOST “empowers parents who don’t otherwise have the opportunity to choose the best education fit for their child.”

In the 2021-22 academic year, there were 3,268 BOOST scholarship recipients. Their average household income was $35,488 and 56 percent were from minority communities.

In the Archdiocese of Baltimore, there are more than 700 BOOST scholarship recipients this year at archdiocesan and independent Catholic schools.

The amount of the coming academic year’s scholarships will be determined after the online application has closed. There may not be funding available for every student who applies, with students from the lowest-income families to be placed at the top of the list.

Scholarship checks will be mailed directly to eligible schools in October.

For more information and to apply, visit bit.ly/boost-apply

Email George P. Matysek Jr. at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

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