Colonial Penn To Provide Over 300 K-8th Grade Scholarships To Low-income Philadelphia Children

PHILADELPHIA, April 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company today presented a check for $300,000 to Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP) at one of its 160 partner schools to support scholarships for low-income K-8^th grade students in Philadelphia. The donation is part of a larger partnership in which Colonial Penn has committed to scaling educational opportunities and supporting low-income children and their families throughout Philadelphia.

Colonial Penn's donation launches a multi-year partnership with CSFP that will allow CSFP to award over 300 new K-8^th grade scholarships over the next two years for low-income children to attend the tuition-based school of their family's choice. These scholarships offer hope, opportunity and success to Philadelphia students by providing financial access to over 160 diverse, private and parochial schools in the Greater Philadelphia area.

Each year, CSFP receives an overwhelming number of applications for its scholarship award lottery. This year alone, CSFP received 10,000 applications for 2,000 awards that will be distributed in June. Because of this demand and the availability of seats in local quality private schools, CSFP launched its Campaign for 10,000 Children to provide even more children with financial access to a quality early education.

Colonial Penn's partnership allows CSFP to reach its goal of awarding 10,000 scholarships by this year and sustain its efforts in the years forward. "CSFP is grateful for partners like Colonial Penn who strive to live their core values of integrity and community-focus, and whose dedication to our city's children and families will improve our community and educate our future workforce," said CSFP Executive Director, Ina B. Lipman.

"We are proud to support CSFP and look forward to providing children with a quality education," said Gerardo Monroy, president of Colonial Penn. "As a company headquartered for nearly 60 years in Philadelphia, we are committed to supporting causes that drive positive change and contribute to the well-being of our community."

Colonial Penn's investment will yield compelling results: Over 96% of CSFP alumni graduate high school on time and on grade level. Colonial Penn made its donation through the PA Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program that provides scholarships to low-income students living in the catchment zones of the lowest-achieving PA public schools to attend a higher quality school. Because nearly half of the Commonwealth's low-achieving schools are in Philadelphia, Colonial Penn's donation provides crucial assistance for the success of the next generation of Philadelphia leaders, like those students attending St. Francis de Sales School where the partnership was announced and where CSFP provides financial assistance to over 150 Philadelphia children annually.

About Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia
Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP) is a privately funded program, established in 1998, whose mission is to provide financial access for students from low-income Philadelphia families to safe, high-quality, tuition-based schools. It is the largest provider of scholarship support for grades K-8 in Pennsylvania. CSFP currently serves about 5,400 children in grades K-8 in more than 165 area private schools, who are receiving an average of $1,950 per child, per year. The average tuition for these schools is about $4,200 per year. The scholarships are all need-based and awarded by lottery.

https://twitter.com/CSFPhiladelphia
https://www.facebook.com/csfphiladelphia
www.csfphiladelphia.org

About Colonial Penn
Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company specializes in offering insurance directly to consumers at affordable prices. The nationwide company, a subsidiary of CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CNO), was a pioneer in designing insurance products to meet the needs of the mature market.  With nearly 775,000 life insurance policies and $3.5 billion of life insurance inforce, we're proud to be serving insurance needs all across America.  To learn more, visit Colonial Penn online at www.ColonialPenn.com.

SOURCE Children's Scholarship Fund Philadelphia

Related Links

http://www.csfphiladelphia.org