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Endowed Scholarships

An On-Ramp to a World-Class LFA Education

Endowed scholarships ensure that Lake Forest Academy remains a richly diverse and culturally stimulating environment, a place where deserving, academically qualified students, regardless of their family’s economic circumstances, live and learn side by side. The Academy seeks new and increased endowed scholarships as part of the Initiative to ensure LFA remains one of the nation’s best boarding schools.

Named endowed scholarships for deserving students allow some of the world’s best and brightest young adults the opportunity to receive an LFA education. From nearby Waukegan to the neighborhoods of Chicago’s South Side, from rural Illinois to suburban Pittsburgh, students are attracted to LFA for the global education the institution provides and the access it affords to a world much bigger than the one they knew before.

Named endowed scholarships may be established at LFA with a pledge of $50,000 or more. A portion of investment earnings on a $50,000 endowed fund provides approximately $1,750 annually to help defray annual day student tuition of $45,950 or boarding tuition of $61,500. A named endowed scholarship may be supplemented by a bequest or other estate gift.

LFA students in downtown Chicago in front of The Bean

At LFA today, approximately 30 percent of students receive some form of financial assistance, with more than $5 million awarded annually. Currently, only $99,000 of the $5 million budget is underwritten by donor-funded endowed scholarships. Among the highlights of the LFA scholarship program are The Schell (’65)-O’Connor Family Scholarship Fund (for socio-economically disadvantaged students), the Lynne B. Kulieke Scholarship (need-based), the Claude W. Brenner ’44 Scholarship Fund, and the McNerney Scholarship Fund. Endowed scholarships are supplemented by expendable, annual scholarships including the Class of ’93 Scholarship Fund (for low-income, first-generation, college-bound students) and the Sodexo Annual Scholarship, among others.

A special endowed scholarship for girls has been established in honor of the rich legacy of the all-girls Ferry Hall, which joined with LFA in 1974. Originally named The Young Ladies' Seminary at Ferry Hall, the school began operation in 1869. LFA proudly carries forth the traditions of Ferry Hall and its commitment to excellence.