As a faithful Catholic institution, Wyoming Catholic College knows that few things are more important than preserving our institutional integrity and independence from external, secular pressures. For this reason, the College’s Board of Directors has chosen not to participate in the Federal Student Loan and Grant Programs (known colloquially as Title IV). While this principled position—a position that led the New York Times to dub us “cowboy Catholics”—has created significant financial challenges for the College, recent years have shown the wisdom of the approach, as few things could more rapidly compromise our autonomy and fidelity to the Church and its teachings than the regulatory power which accompanies the acceptance of federal funds.

The College’s stance on Title IV funding has a number of consequences, particularly when applied to the Veterans Education Benefits (such as the GI Bill©) and the various others ways the American government helps “qualifying Veterans and their family members get money to cover all or some of the costs for school or training.” Until this year, the Federal Government had tied the use of many of these funds to Title IV qualification—in other words, any institution that was qualified to receive Title IV funds could accept Veterans Education Benefit funds. After the latest round of legislation, however, the Federal Government has tied the use of GI Bill funds to Title IV acceptance, which means that only institutions currently accepting Title IV funds can accept the GI Bill benefits.

This policy change means that we are no longer able to offer our veteran applicants the financial benefits of their service. As a direct response to this unaccommodating situation, we have created the St. Ignatius of Loyola Scholarship Fund, which will be used to provide the same benefits for our country’s veterans as would be afforded them at other, Title IV-accepting institutions. Please consider joining us in this effort!

Support the St. Ignatius Scholarship Fund

Thank you for your interest in supporting the St. Ignatius of Loyola Scholarship Fund. With your help, we are able to offer this extraordinary education to our country’s veterans without taking on the ever-increasing risks that accompany the acceptance of Federal funds. God bless you!