Seeds of Faith Tuition Assistance 2026 Frequently Asked Questions

I hope you are all staying warm and safe now that winter weather has returned! Applications have opened for the 2026-2027 Seeds of Faith - Tuition Assistance grant.

This year's applications will be entered via FACTS, a secure online application portal. For those who have not previously used this program, FACTS is an application software utilized by many Catholic schools locally and nationwide. We believe this change will provide a simpler, more streamlined experience for applicants, schools, and us at CFSM. You can find the link to apply here.

Now that the application is open, we wanted to provide answers to some frequently asked questions.

How does a family apply through FACTS? Families who already have a FACTS account for their school must use their existing FACTS account. They can simply click our link and apply with their existing FACTS account for no additional charge. Families who attend a school that does not use FACTS can follow the link and create an account free of charge for the 2026-2027 school year.

Can non-Catholic families apply? YES, anyone attending a Catholic school in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester may apply. While parish and school involvement does increase a family's application scoring, the largest factors in scoring are financial need and special circumstances. The original endowment documents state the grant is intended for "parents who seek a Catholic education for their children and who demonstrate a financial need", which does not mandate the families' religious affiliation. 

How will families provide parish and school involvement statements?  Families are asked to write about their involvement and are then asked to provide their parish registration status and affiliation. If they do not list a parish, their statement will only be sent to their school for approval. If they list a parish, their involvement will be sent to both the school and the parish for their respective approvals. 

How will schools and parishes approve involvement statements? Like in previous year's Principals and Pastors will be asked to provide input on parish and school involvement. Rather than completing this before submitting the application to us, this year we will be emailing you weekly reports of new applications with the applicant(s) and student(s) names and their statement. Schools and parishes can then provide approvals/disapprovals along with optional comments. If someone besides your school's principal or your parish's pastor should receive these reports for scoring, please reply to this email with who should receive them.

What should we do if families feel uncomfortable providing certain information? Please reach out to us directly. You are welcome to recommend families make the following replacements if needed: enter the school address instead of a home address, enter NA for employer/occupation and enter a phone number/other nine-digit number instead of a SSN if the applicant doesn't have one.

What should we do if families can't apply online? Please reach out to us directly. We will still offer the paper application on a case-by-case basis.

What are the important dates for this year's SOF-TA applications? Regular applications will be accepted until May 29th. Our annual granting meeting will be in mid-June, and grants will be distributed to schools in mid-July. 

 

Please let us know if you have any other questions. We are here to help!

Morgan Lowney | Development Specialist

mlowney@catholicfsmn.org  |  507.494.8844