Mission and Program Description

Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP) is a privately-funded program whose mission is to provide children from under-resourced Philadelphia families with financial access to quality, safe, K-8th grade, tuition-based schools, thereby increasing their long-term economic and social success. CSFP grants need-based, partial scholarships through a random lottery. CSFP currently serves more than 5,800 children enrolled at over 160  parochial and private schools.

Read about our organization’s core values here.

All scholarships are need-based. In order to guarantee a fair chance for all Philadelphia children from under-resourced families living in Philadelphia, CSFP utilizes a blind lottery to select scholarship recipients.

Families co-contribute a minimum of $500 towards their child(ren)'s tuition annually. With an average household income of just $40,000, this demonstrates the commitment CSFP parents make to their child’s education.

Up to three children in a family may receive CSFP's K-8th grade scholarships, providing stability for families as they provide quality education for their children.

CSFP focuses its scholarship support for under-resourced children in the foundational elementary and middle school years, and is the most broad-based and diverse K-8th grade scholarship program in the state.