FAQs
How does TMF calculate whether or not a student needs financial assistance for college?
TMF uses a basic mathematical formula which takes into account income, whether or not there are other college students in the family and other fundamental elements. TMF doesn't take into account GPA, SAT or ACT test scores, extra-curricular activities or anything other than the financial situation of each applicant.
What if a student ends up enrolling at a different college than was listed on the application?
Because attending a different school may have an effect on your tuition award (you may be eligible for a higher award, for instance), you should let us know immediately if your school changes.
Who are sponsors, and why are recipients required to write to them?
Every TMF recipient is assigned a list of up to half a dozen sponsors, who are the folks who donate to TMF (or whose families have done so). We ask our students to write to the sponsors twice yearly in order to provide a broad update about the student's studies, job, family, hobbies and so on. Recipients send signed, dated letters directly to their sponsors, with a copy to the TMF offices. This helps create communication and engagement between students and sponsors, and provides a valuable way for students to thank sponsors directly for their financial support.
Some awards listed on the website are described as "perpetual." What does that mean?
Perpetual awards are ones which have been endowed with $1,000 or more in donations in a single, consecutive twelve-month period. This could be 100 $10 donations from different individuals and organizations, or a single $1,000 bequest from an individual's will and every permutation in between. For perpetual awards, TMF takes these donations and invests them, using only the income from the invested funds to make tuition awards. That means that even if no more funds are ever donated for that particular award, it will be awarded forever. This is a comfort to many families, and an ongoing tribute to the individual(s) for whom the award is named.
