We are able to give tuition assistance to over 85% of our students

Thanks to our donors and tax credits through STOs.

Tuition & Aid

Saint Mary’s Catholic High School bases its tuition policy on the premise that tuition payments are an investment in your child’s education and Christian formation. It is the duty of the school administration, in the spirit of Christian stewardship, to ensure that adequate financial resources are available for the school and that enrollment is as affordable as possible to all families.


2023-2024 Rates

$17,500/year or $13,500/year for Catholics registered in a Catholic Parish

$325 Registration Fee non-refundable and not included in tuition

Financial Aid - Tuition Assistance Opportunities

We want to be sure that tuition is affordable for all students who want to attend St. Mary’s. We work with Student Tuition Organizations (STOs), Foundations, private donors and other organizations to provide tuition assistance to all who request assistance. Student’s eligibility for tuition assistance is determined by household size and household income and needs to be documented by 2022 tax returns. Completing all applications recommended by due dates result in the maximum assistance.

Financial Aid assistance will be available in the Business Office. Contact Michelle Hernandez at mhernandez@smknights.org, Veronica Acosta at vacosta@smknights.org (bilingual) or Esther Valerio at evalerio@smknights.org (bilingual) to schedule an appointment.

Merit Scholarship

Saint Mary’s Catholic High School is proud to award incoming freshmen the Saint Mary’s Merit Scholarship. Students are selected for this distinct honor based on multiple factors from their high school applications, including but not limited to, their HSPT scores, grades, teacher recommendations, online application, and student-parent interviews.  Upon a critical review of all of these items, Saint Mary’s selects a limited number of students whom we believe will continue to excel academically and greatly benefit from a Saint Mary’s education. The scholarship applies all four years.

Median Saint Mary’s Tuition Cost
Based on Family Size and Income

  Household Size Annual Income below Annual Income below Annual Income above
2 $33,874 $62,667 $62,668
3 $42,606 $78,820 $78,821
4 $51,338 $94,974 $94,975
5 $60,070 $111,129 $111,130
6 $68,802 $127,283 $127,284
7 $77,534 $143,437 $143,438
8 $86,266 $159,591 $159,592
Add for each additional $8,732 $16,154 $16,155
 

Classification of Aid eligibility

 

Free/Reduced Eligible

 

Corporate/Low income eligible

Individual eligible, can be Switcher/Plus eligible if coming from Public School
Median Tuition cost for 2020-2021 at St. Mary’s  

$0

 

$800

 

$5,500

Avg number of funding sources for assistance 4 3 3
Catholic Education Arizona

The application for Catholic Education Arizona application is due April 18th.

All families seeking assistance must apply!

Parents/legal guardians need to go to www.fairapp.com to apply.  The school code and school password will remain the same as last year, as well as the $29 fee.

School Code:  700
School Password:  cea700

If your family applied online last year and you log in this year with the same email and password, you will see that an application based on last year’s information has already been started and will have a “pending” status. You will need to click on the EDIT link to update the information for the 2023-2024 school year. The preloaded information will not include financial, school or grade information. Please update your dependent information and school/grade information.

Appointments can be made for financial aid application assistance for parents who have completed 2022 tax returns.

Please contact Michelle Hernandez at mhernandez@smknights.org or 602.251.2510.

School Tuition Organizations

Below is a list of several STO’s (School Tuition Organizations) we partner with.
Please review eligibility guidelines and deadlines prior to applying.

A full list of Arizona STO’s is available at www.azdor.gov

  • Step 1

    All families need to donate their state income tax to and apply to Catholic Education Arizona

    Catholic Education Arizona (CEA)www.fairapp.com
    (You will apply on a site called FAIR (Financial Aid Independent Review) – 3rd party who assesses applications)

    One Application per family: $29 Application Fee

    School Code: 700

    School Password: cea700 (same for all schools in Phoenix Catholic Diocese)

    Upload 2022 Federal Taxes, W-2/1099’s, SNAP, SSI etc. after submitting application

    Deadline April 18th

  • Step 2

    All Families need to approach family, friends, co-workers, business partners, etc. to donate their state income tax liability to CEA or designate your student to at least 1 of the below STOs. Also all families should apply to all of these STOs.

    Institute for Better Education (IBE)www.ibescholarships.org
    First Round Deadline: May 4th Download Form

    (Individual/Switcher/Corporate)                         Deadline: August 15
    Application for (Displaced/Disabled): Refer to IBE website for more information
    No fee to apply; IBE participates in donor recommended tax credit


    Arizona Tuition Connection
    www.arizonatuitionconnection.com
    One Application per student
    No fee to apply; AZ Tuition Connection participates in donor recommended tax credit

    Arizona Private Education Scholarship Fund (APESF)www.apesf.org
    One Application per family
    No fee to apply; APESF participates in donor-recommended tax credit


    School Choice Arizonawww.schoolchoicearizona.org
    One Application per student; No fee to apply, SCA participates in donor-recommended tax credit

    Tops for Kidswww.topsforkids.com
    One Application per family
    No fee to apply; Tops for Kids participates in donor recommended tax credit

     

  • Step 3

    If Corporate Income eligible continue to follow the steps below:

    Arizona Leadership applications are now available. Please submit applications and documents directly to St. Mary’s Business Office at mhernandez@smknights.org. Incomplete applications sent directly to Arizona Leadership could result in loss of funding.

    Scholarship Applications:
    Low Income Scholarship Application
    DD Scholarship Application

  • Step 4

    If Free/Reduced Lunch eligible continue to follow steps applicable below:

    If the student has a 2.5 GPA apply to:

    Pappas Kids Schoolhouse Foundationwww.pappaskidssf.org

    Application Opens: February 1st

    Deadline: May 15th

    One Application per student– available on SM Website and in office once available.

    No Fee to apply; minimum 2.5 GPA; Must qualify for free/reduced lunch to apply- Refer to income chart

  • Step 5

    If you have received ASCT funds in 19-20 school year, apply to:

    Arizona School Choice Trust (ASCT) www.asct.org

    For Renewals Only        

    One Application per family: $30 Application Fee

  • Step 6

    Limited funding is available from these STOs

    Academic Opportunity of Arizona www.academicopportunity.org

    A Degree for Me – www.adegreeforme.org
    $7.00 application fee

Download Enrollment Verification

Download CEA Instructions - English

Download CEA Instructions - Spanish

IBE First Round Deadline: June 1st


Please Contact the Business Office at 602.251.2510 with questions regarding Tuition.

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Saint Mary’s Catholic High School