The Washington Scholarship Fund, Inc.

Programs: D. C. Opportunity scholarship program (osp):the federally-funded d. C. Opportunity scholarship program (the d. C. Osp or the osp"). The osp, authorized by the d. C. School choice incentive act of 2003, was passed into law by the u. S. Congress in january 2004; wsf began implementation of the program in april of the same year. Signature scholarship program (ssp):"the signature scholarship program" (the "signature program" or the "ssp"). Wsf operated the signature program form 1993 through january 2011. The ssp was 100% privately funded through contributions by individuals, foundations, corporations, and non-profit institutions - nearly all of them local to the d. C. -metro area. In addition, the program was supported through a matching grant partnership with the new york-based children's scholarship fund. The signature program provided up to $3,000 in yearly tuition to students in grades k-12. To qualify, families needed to be at or below 270% of the federal poverty level; be residents of the district of columbia. Over the years, the ssp was of particular benefit in expanding access to new educational opportunities for district "working poor" families who struggled mightily, under enormously trying economic circumstances, to meet the often-competing demands of life in a challenging urban setting. For these families, absent wsf scholarships, educational options would have been severely limited, if not entirely beyond reach. Among the best indicators of the ssp's value to d. C. Families was the fact that, historically, over 90% of ssp high school graduates have went on to attend a college or university immediately following graduation. "