About Tuition Mission

The Tri-State Area Tuition Mission Foundation (TMF) was founded in East Liverpool, Ohio in 1962 and made its first tuition awards the following year. TMF serves multiple schools in seven school districts in eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. TMF was, for many years, known as Dollars for Scholars® and was affiliated with the national Dollars for Scholars® organization ─ which was in turn administered via Scholarship America®.  In 2013, the foundation changed its name to the Tri-State Area Tuition Mission Foundation, or Tuition Mission (TMF) for short. TMF is administered by a board of directors and five officers.

In addition to students enrolled in brick-and-mortar schools, we're happy to accept applications from students who are home-schooled or who are educated via online schools or other non-traditional institutions. Click on the sub-heading "Districts we serve" in "About Tuition Mission" for details.

TMF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable foundation. Since 1992, no TMF funds have been used for operating expenses. Instead, these have been covered by the extraordinary generosity of a local benefactor. In 2018, at the suggestion of this benefactor, TMF began using some investment income to cover expenses such as postage, copies, etc. We know of no other area charitable organization — and indeed, very few charitable organizations anywhere in the country — which can match our boast that 100% of funding raised goes directly to the charity's beneficiaries. Since 1963, TMF has made tuition awards totaling over $8.8 million.

People are sometimes surprised by what constitutes "financial need" for our purposes. Applicants could have a fairly high household income and still qualify under our formula. We encourage applications from anyone who feels they need help to pursue an education beyond high school. This is especially true in households where more than one individual is attending college.

Tuition awards are available for any education beyond high school. This can be a two-year or four-year degree program, vocational/technical training, a certification/licensure program or graduate school.

TMF tuition awards function as interest-free loans. All recipients sign multiple documents promising to fully repay their interest-free awards via monthly repayments starting a few months after they either graduate or discontinue their education.

 For the 2023 - 2024 academic year, TMF made tuition awards totaling $264,933 to 30 students. The top award was $13,000/student, which about half of the student recipients were awarded. The average award was $8,831/student.

When it comes to tuition and fees, here's what a $8,831 average TMF tuition award covers:

21% — private four-year university degree ($42,162)

37% — public, out-of-state, four-year university degree ($23,630)

83% — public, in-state, four-year university degree ($10,662)

NOTE: Figures are taken directly from USNews.com.

Every single dollar of every single donation is used for tuition awards. The only exception are donations given by supporters who specifically request that TMF invest their gift ─ which means that TMF then awards only the income from those invested funds. 

All TMF tuition awards operate as interest-free loans, and are made with the understanding that they need to be repaid beginning a few months after a recipient either graduates or discontinues his or her education. About half of the money we award each year comes from repayments from past recipients, so repayments are absolutely essential to the continuation of our vital work.

Past recipients are required make minimum monthly repayments of one-half of one percent (0.5%) if they owe more than $5,000. At $5,000 or less, past recipients are required to make minimum monthly repayments of one percent (1%) or $40, whichever is higher. For bookkeeping simplicity, repayment amounts are rounded up to the nearest zero or five. So for instance, if you owe $6,894, we ask for a monthly repayment of $35 (0.5% of $7,000). If you owe $1,718, we ask for a minimum repayment of $40/month or one percent (1.0%), whichever is higher.