History
Fall 1998
13 Omaha donors raised $1 million to match a $1 million grant from the Children's Scholarship Fund of New York, a foundation underwritten by Ted Forstmann and John Walton. The Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha provides low-income families with K-8 scholarships for private and parochial schools.
1999 - 2000 School Year
3,584 students applied to the CSF.
A lottery drawing was held to determine scholarship winners.
To qualify, all scholarship recipients needed to meet the federal income guidelines for the free/reduced lunch program.
607 scholarships were awarded to Omaha families for the 1999 / 2000 school year to provide tuition assistance for the next four years.
The Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha received its IRS 501(c)(3) status in August of 1999, declaring it a nonprofit organization. The program was created to continue the tradition of giving established by the Children's Scholarship Fund of New York.
2000 - 2001 School Year
884 new students applied to the Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha for the 2000-2001 school year.
473 students returned to the program, 56 new scholarships were awarded, and 37 siblings of scholarship recipients were added.
2001 - 2002 School Year
539 students received scholarship assistance. Only siblings were added to the program.
2002 - 2003 School Year
2,400 new students applied to the Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha. Additional, but limited funding provided scholarships for 1,000 of these students. In addition, nearly 500 students returned to the program and students from rural Nebraska were added to the program.
2003 - 2004 School Year
1,052 students returned to the program, 425 new awards were given and 73 siblings were added for a total of 1,550 students. Over 1,000 students were left on a waiting list.
2004 - 2005 School Year
1,656 students received awards which averaged $966 for a total of $1,600,004. Over eight hundred students that applied were left on a waiting list.
2005 - 2006 School Year
1,811 students received awards which averaged $938 for a total of $1,688,938. Over five hundred students that applied were left on a waiting list.
2006 - 2007 School Year
1,832 students received awards which averaged $966 for a total of $1,757,809. Over a thousand students that applied were left on a waiting list.
2007 - 2008 School Year
2,126 students have received scholarships for a total of $2,005,583. There are still over 800 students left on the waiting list.