History of the Catholic Education Foundation

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The number of families eligible for tuition assistance has also grown. From the beginning, the CEF stipulated that to be eligible for a tuition award recipients must come from families living at or below the income guidelines of the Federal Free Lunch Program. Today, based on those guidelines, there are over 25,000 children in the three-county Archdiocese that qualify for tuition awards.

Over the past 20 years, as a result of the vision of Cardinal Roger Mahony, the leadership of the Board of Trustees, the dedication of countless volunteers and the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporation, the Catholic Education Foundation has provided over $73 million in tuition assistance. This, in turn, means donors have enabled 80,100 students to benefit from the quality academic education and nurturing high moral standards of a Catholic school. However, each year there are still students who do not receive assistance.

In conjunction with the 20th Anniversary of the Foundation in 2007, two significant opportunities were launched in order to meet the needs of the over 25,000 additional students who qualify for assistance each year. First to increase endowment, a Planned Giving Committee of the Board was organized in 2005 and the Legacy Society was established under the chairmanship of Thomas E. Larkin, Jr. in September 2006. At that time, the “20 for 20” campaign was launched with of goal of raising $20 million in planned gifts to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Foundation. Donors who make a planned gift are included in the CEF Legacy Society.

Second, in order to broaden the Foundation’s donor base from which to raise these funds, the Board sought to gain a better understanding of the long-term impact of a Catholic school education on the students and families served. In partnership with Loyola Marymount University, te Foundation began a study of CEF alumni across a broad spectrum of factors including test scores, attrition, graduation rates, etc. The first phase of the study will begin to answer the question: “Is a Catholic education really an advantage for life?”

The Catholic Education Foundation is ready to serve the future generations of parents throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles who want their children to have a Catholic school education, but whose budgets do not stretch far enough to pay the full tuition. The Foundation’s funding sources are heavily reliant on the generosity of numerous donors who continue to support the mission of the Foundation with grants, pledges, cash gifts, planned gifts and volunteering their time.