Understanding Loyola Blakefield Tuition and Financial Aid

Loyola Blakefield, a private Catholic college preparatory school for boys in Towson, Maryland, is known for its rigorous academics, strong athletic programs, and commitment to Jesuit values. A key aspect of considering Loyola Blakefield is understanding the tuition costs and the financial aid options available to families.

The Cost of Attendance at Loyola Blakefield

People might look at the Loyola Blakefield’s stately Towson campus and think the students who attend there can easily afford the $16,845 tuition, which includes fees. Loyola Blakefield tuition costs $800 more than last year. The cost of private education can be a significant investment, and Loyola Blakefield recognizes the need to support families who may require assistance.

Financial Aid Philosophy and Application Process

Loyola Blakefield’s financial aid philosophy is to balance the funding of a family’s unmet need with an equitable distribution of available aid among applying families. While the primary responsibility for financing a student's education rests with families, Loyola Blakefield provides a strong scholarship and financial aid program to meet the needs of individual families with demonstrated need, so that many qualified and talented young men can benefit from a Loyola education.

Loyola Blakefield uses FACTS Grant and Aid Assessment (FACTS) to manage the financial aid process. FACTS helps Loyola assess a family’s ability to pay school costs and make objective and fair financial aid decisions. Based on the results of the financial aid application, FACTS estimates the amount a family can contribute to tuition and fees. Each parent is required to fill out his or her own financial aid application. If a parent is remarried, the application should include financial information of the new spouse.

Need-Based Scholarships

Need-Based Scholarships are awarded to families with demonstrated financial need as determined by Loyola’s Financial Aid Committee. The starting point for the committee’s aid award is a family’s completed financial aid application.

Merit-Based Scholarships

Loyola Blakefield offers several merit-based scholarships to recognize outstanding students.

The Sheridan Scholars Award

The Sheridan Scholars Award is awarded to students entering the 9th grade who manifest outstanding academic achievement, leadership, and involvement in co-curricular activities. No application is necessary. Our admissions committee identifies potential recipients based on their admissions profile and those that exhibit strong leadership qualities. A recipient is required to maintain a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA and participate in all leadership programming offered through the program.

Ignatian Honors Program Award

Students in our Ignatian Honors Program receive the highest merit award at Loyola Blakefield. The Ignatian Honors Program is a mission-driven experience that challenges students to explore and discuss the human condition through a rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum.

Athletic & Co-Curricular Scholarships

Athletic & Co-Curricular Scholarships are primarily awarded to students entering the 9th grade and are based on academics, citizenship, and talent. No application is necessary. Our program directors, activity moderators, and coaches work in conjunction with our Admissions Department and Principals to identify and nominate potential students that match the criteria of the award.

Scholarships for Specific Groups

Loyola Blakefield also provides scholarships for specific groups, demonstrating its commitment to supporting families from diverse backgrounds.

Read also: Applying for Loyola Scholarships

Scholarships for Sons of Active Duty Personnel

Loyola Blakefield offers scholarships for sons of Active Duty Military, Active Duty Police Officers, and Career Firefighters/EMTs. The scholarships are awarded to incoming 9th grade students at the amount of $5,000. The scholarship award is committed to the student for each of his four years at Loyola.

Scholarships for Sons of Teachers

We are pleased to offer scholarships to sons of full-time teachers employed by an Archdiocese of Baltimore elementary or middle school. The scholarship award is offered to incoming 9th grade students only and is applied to each of his four years at Loyola.

Performing Arts Scholarships

This scholarship is designed to attract the best and brightest to our dramatics program. The Performing Arts Scholarship in Music is a scholarship that is designed to attract the best and brightest to our music program (band and chorus). A limited number of these scholarships will be awarded to incoming 9th grade students who show potential for excellence in the musical arts.

The Chief George Folio Greater Glory Scholarship

We offer The Chief George Folio Greater Glory Scholarship to students whose parent/guardian (father or mother) works for the Baltimore County Fire Department and whose families qualify for need-based financial assistance.

External Scholarship Opportunities

Loyola Blakefield also encourages families to explore external scholarship opportunities to help finance their son's education.

Read also: ACT Scores for Loyola

Blair-Thalheimer Scholar Program

Learn more and apply online.

Knott Scholarship Fund

Please click here for additional details.

Knights of Columbus

Access information and application here.

Flaherty Family Foundation

The Flaherty Scholars Program is awarded to students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement (minimum 3.5 GPA), leadership potential, perseverance, and a commitment to their communities. Flaherty Scholars are fully engaged in leadership development through workshops, mentorship, and career exploration opportunities throughout high school.

Loyola's Commitment to Affordability

Father Thomas A. Pesci, the Jesuit priest who serves as president of the school, knows differently. “I think they would die if they knew we accepted a boy who is currently homeless,” Father Pesci said. Loyola Blakefield has a strong tie to the Boys Hope program, an organization Father Pesci has been supportive of throughout his career. Three or four Boys Hope residents will attend Loyola Blakefield this fall.

Father Pesci said there is pressure on the school to increase enrollment. Even when that happens, Father Pesci said, the amount of financial need rises. “On the balance, you’re going to make a little bit more than you’re losing,” he said “It actually helps us to diversify our student body by trying to increase the enrollment, surprisingly, because we’re not taking all full pay customers. Father Pesci said the school had “very major cost cutting.” The administration also measures an appropriate student-teacher ratio, has renegotiated contracts for copy machines and paper and managed energy usage.

Father Pesci said the school can’t lose sight of its origins. “I think what we don’t do is change in a negative way,” Father Pesci said. “We don’t want to have full-paying customers because that’s not our mission. Father Pesci said he is also “pretty aggressive in trying to fundraise to some of my parents who can easily afford tuition.” He hopes they will give to the Greater Glory Scholarship funds. He often seeks past and current families to sponsor a student for half or all of the tuition cost.

Payment Options

Loyola manages tuition payments through FACTS Management Company. Tuition may be paid in full, or split into payments over the course of the school year.

Fundraising Efforts

“I know tuition is roughly 72 or 73 percent of actual cost,” Father Pesci said. “That’s not good simply from a fiduciary standpoint. Loyola Blakefield’s fundraising is impacted dramatically, particularly when the market is depressed. In order to offset those numbers, the school has sought to increase annual giving and making a school auction an annual event. The March event has gone from a $75,000 event to a $350,000 one. The school also sought to work with classes celebrating their graduation anniversaries to build endowments, which could be beneficial when the markets improve. “We’re kind of setting the setting the stage for the long run and in the short run,” Father Pesci said.

Days before their graduation, Father Pesci asked members of the 2011 class to make a five-year pledge and to try and make the first payment as soon as possible. One particular student was marked for support. “By the day we graduated, we had $23,000 in pledges,” Father Pesci said, adding that the number is now at $25,000 with more potentially coming from families.

The school is trying, through a capital campaign, to provide competitive facilities for students of all religions. The priest said he and Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien have a similar philosophy. They want to raise the sights of Catholics to expect first class. “As we do brick and mortar, we’re trying to pay off existing debt and trying to build an endowment for the future,” Father Pesci said. “People might say, ‘Oh there’s a building going up, they must have a lot of money. The fact of the matter is, we’re borrowing it and we’re fundraising for that and fundraising beyond what’s in front of you for 20 and 30 years down the pike. It can’t just be about school’s survival today. We’ve lived hand to mouth, from cup of soup to the next, for too long.

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