Where government scholarships and educational aid come from

It is the money map. Most scholarship guides tell you how to ask for one; this one tells you where it comes from and what each recipient must do with its share. The money splits three ways: directly to the UPR, to ADFAN for childcare for children aged zero to four in low-income families, and to the Department of Education for educational aid and family assistance. And inside the Education share there are three concrete mandates that help many families and almost nobody knows about.

It depends which of the three pots is yours. If you are a University of Puerto Rico student, the funds go directly to the University and the University distributes them under its own programmes. If you are the mother, father or guardian of a child aged zero to four in a low-income family, ADFAN’s share is for childcare financial aid. If you have a child in a public elementary or secondary school, the Department of Education’s share is governed by uniform criteria that the Act itself requires be “strictly based on academic performance … without consideration of their family income.” If your child receives services in the Salón Contenido alternative of the Special Education Programme, there is a special school scholarship triggered when they demonstrate talent or special abilities, and for that one the Act expressly says “academic performance shall not be taken into consideration.” The Act publishes no ages, grade averages or income thresholds beyond that, and we do not invent them.

• For ADFAN’s share: be a low-income family with boys or girls aged zero (0) to four (4) who need education through childcare centres.Verified against the official source
• For Department of Education scholarships at elementary and secondary level: meet uniform criteria strictly based on academic performance, without consideration of family income.Verified against the official source
• For the special school scholarship: receive services through the Salón Contenido alternative of the Special Education Programme and demonstrate talent or special abilities in disciplines such as music, visual arts, dance, theatre, sports or some particular field of study.Verified against the official source
• For the reserved fifteen per cent: be a gifted student or one with high intellectual potential, for the purpose of taking university-level courses of greater complexity.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Identify which of the three pots is yours

   Article 6 splits the money three ways and does not mix them. First: “The funds destined for the scholarship and educational-aid programmes for University of Puerto Rico students shall be assigned, for their distribution, directly to the University.” Second: the funds of the Families and Children Administration (ADFAN), attached to the Department of the Family. Third: the funds assigned to the Department of Education of Puerto Rico, “to grant educational aid and family assistance.” Knowing which is yours saves you knocking on the wrong door, because a different entity administers each one.

2. 2

   Step 2: If you have a child aged zero to four, this is for you

   It is the least-known part of the Act and it speaks not to a student but to a mother or father. The text: “The funds destined for the Families and Children Administration (ADFAN), attached to the Department of the Family of Puerto Rico, shall be used to grant financial aid to low-income families so their boys and girls aged zero (0) to four (4) may obtain education through childcare centres.” It is not a university scholarship: it is financial aid to pay for childcare at that age. The Act publishes no amount, form or deadline, and we do not invent them: you ask the Department of the Family.

3. 3

   Step 3: The Salón Contenido scholarship: talent, not grades

   From the Department of Education’s funds “there must be included a special school scholarship granted to students with disabilities or special conditions who receive services through the Salón Contenido alternative of the Department of Education’s Special Education Programme, once they demonstrate talent or special abilities in disciplines such as music, visual arts, dance, theatre, sports or some particular field of study.” And later, the rule that makes it possible: “In the case of the special school scholarships of the Special Education Programme, academic performance shall not be taken into consideration.” If your child is in Salón Contenido and has a talent, the grade average is not the gate.

4. 4

   Step 4: The fifteen per cent for gifted students

   This is a hard number and worth quoting as it stands: “fifteen per cent (15%) of the current scholarship budget assigned to the Department of Education shall be destined for scholarships for gifted students or those with high intellectual potential, so that they may take university-level courses of greater complexity.” Note the written purpose: it is not a generic merit scholarship, it is money for a school student to take university courses. It is a reserved slice of the budget, not a separate line depending on someone requesting it each year.

5. 5

   Step 5: For the rest of Education’s scholarships: grades yes, income no

   The Act requires the Department of Education to establish “uniform eligibility criteria for elementary and secondary students,” and then sets a limit worth knowing before you rule yourself out: “Said criteria shall be strictly based on the academic performance of students at both levels, without consideration of their family income.” Read that last phrase twice. For these scholarships, family income does not enter the equation, for better or worse. It is exactly the opposite rule from the Salón Contenido scholarship, and the Act sets them side by side on purpose.

6. 6

   Step 6: Leftovers have a fixed destination: literacy for blind students

   Article 6 closes with a leftovers rule that leaves no discretion: “any funds left over from the educational-aid and family-assistance programme … the Department of Education shall redirect, exclusively, to be used in implementing the provisions contained in Article 10.08 of Act No. 85-2018, as amended, known as the ‘Educational Reform Act’, concerning literacy for blind students in public schools.” We did not read that Article 10.08, so we do not tell you exactly what it requires; we tell you that money left over from these aids is reserved by law for that.

7. 7

   Step 7: The floor on the annual appropriation, and its condition

   Article 7 provides that “the annual appropriation for the University of Puerto Rico, the Department of the Family and the Department of Education shall never be less than the appropriation granted for the same purposes during Fiscal Year 2002-2003,” but attaches a condition: “while the Council on Education of Puerto Rico has resources available in the Permanent Fund for Financial Aid and Scholarships for Post-Secondary Students.” Article 8 adds that from fiscal year 2004-2005 the funds in the Educational Opportunities Fund were transferred to that Permanent Fund. Here we have to be honest: we could not verify which entity exercises the Council on Education of Puerto Rico’s functions today, so we do not name a successor we did not confirm.

Each pot has its own door. If you are a University of Puerto Rico student, at the University, because the funds are assigned directly to it for distribution. If you are looking for childcare aid for a child aged zero to four, at the Department of the Family, where the Families and Children Administration is attached. If you are looking for the Salón Contenido special school scholarship or the gifted-student one, at the Department of Education of Puerto Rico, which sets the uniform eligibility criteria. The Act publishes no forms, addresses, telephones or deadlines, and we do not invent them.

• Believing it is a scholarship you apply for: the Act distributes funds among the UPR, ADFAN and Education; each administers its own programmes.
• Thinking ADFAN’s share is for university students: it is childcare financial aid for children aged zero to four in low-income families.
• Ruling out a child in Salón Contenido over grades: for that special school scholarship the Act says academic performance shall not be taken into consideration.
• Ruling yourself out of Education’s scholarships over family income: the criteria must be strictly based on academic performance, without considering income.
• Not knowing about the fifteen per cent: that slice of Education’s scholarship budget is reserved for gifted or high-intellectual-potential students.
• Looking for the UPR scholarship at the Department of Education: the University’s funds are assigned directly to it.
• Assuming leftovers go to more scholarships: the Act destines them exclusively to literacy for blind students in public schools.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico

  Educación

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov