Since the founding of TMF in 1962 (then known as Dollars for Scholars), our tuition awards have functioned as interest-free loans. Every recipient signs documentation agreeing to fully repay their awards in order to help current and future TMF recipients. Thank you for taking this obligation seriously!
We offered PayPal for over two years, but found that not enough past recipients used it to justify the expense (even for charitable foundations, PayPal takes a percentage of each transaction). So instead, we urge you to use your bank or other financial institution’s monthly auto-pay system. You likely already use this for other bills, so you’re just adding Tuition Mission to an existing system. Doing this allows you to “set it and forget it” and ensures that your TMF repayments will be made reliably every single month. Because every bank’s system is a little bit different, we cannot walk you through the process. Generally speaking, though, here’s the info your bank will need from you:
1) Routing numbers and account numbers are unnecessary.
2) YOUR NAME MUST APPEAR IN THE MEMO LINE of the check or money order, whether you yourself are making repayments or your bank is doing it for you. Please note that your name is also your TMF account name/number. If your name has changed via marriage, etc., be sure to let us know so that your repayments are accurately credited to your account.
3) You or your bank can make these monthly repayment checks payable to “Tuition Mission” and send them to Post Office Box 60, East Liverpool, OH 43920.
Owe more than $5,000? TMF requires a MINIMUM of 0.5% monthly repayments (rounded up to the nearest zero or five). Owe $5,000 or less? TMF requires a MINIMUM of $40/month or one percent (1.0%), whichever is higher and we ask that no matter what is owed, monthly repayments never fall below $40. Here are a couple of examples:
You owe $2,900 — your monthly repayment should be a minimum of 1% or $40/month, whichever is higher.
You owe $16,500 — your monthly repayment should be a minimum of 0.5%, or $85/month.
Your repayments are vital in helping current and future recipients. The population of the tri-state area has shrunk by more than half in the last fifty years or so and donations have fallen off proportionately. This means that the majority of the funding we award each year comes from alumni repayments.
TMF views repayments as charitable donations. Consult your tax advisor for details.