Financial Aid for College, Graduate School & Vocational Education
Already started your online application?
Login to your saved application here.
The Role of Parents in the Application Process
We appreciate that parents often play a large role in funding their children’s education and we are glad to help them understand our process. However, it is important to us that students actually fill out the application themselves and communicate with us directly throughout the application process. Ultimately, we are making loans and grants to the students and they are taking full responsibility for ongoing communication and repaying their loans. Read answers to frequently asked questions by parents.
ABF Scholar Profile
Andrew Hellmund
First-year Architectural Studies Student
Geneva, New York
“With God and Christian Science as my foundation, going from high school to college has gone much more smoothly. Whenever there is the suggestion of stress or pressure, I turn to what I’ve learned in Christian Science to establish what God already knows.”
“Thanks to my Albert Baker Fund (ABF) grant I am able to spend more time on my classes during my first year of college. I am able to get my feet on the ground and then push off to all the opportunities around me!”
Andrew’s Story: Andrew is loving his first year of architecture classes and all that he is learning from his professors and the upperclassmen who have taken him under their wing. He thinks he might like to join the Peace Corps when he graduates so he can help find new ways to improve living conditions in developing countries. The closest Christian Science church is 45 minutes away (no car!) so a church member from home calls him once a week and they have their own Sunday sharing time.
For almost 50 years, the Albert Baker Fund has been helping Christian Scientists pay for higher education. Like the founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, and her older brother Albert Baker, we appreciate the value of education. We also understand how difficult it can be to fund. Since 1964, we have provided over $10 million in low-cost loans to nearly 3000 Christian Scientists. In 1998, we began supplementing loans with scholarships and grants. In 2007, we expanded our financial aid into Africa and Europe.
What We Fund
We provide financial assistance for students accepted to an accredited college, graduate school or vocational institution in their home country. Our scholarships and loans are based on merit and financial need, determined by the gap between a student’s resources and the cost of tuition, books, and room and board. Most recipients receive a combination of loans and grants. Loans have a ten year payback term with an interest rate of 3%. Most undergraduate students receive an award of $3000–5000, so we are a supplementary source of funding for most applicants.
Who We Fund (Eligibility)
We are dedicated to supporting students who are active in the Christian Science Movement and eager to help the world around them. We expect the students we support to “pass the blessing forward” by serving the Cause of Christian Science and humanity. To be eligible to apply you must:
- Be a citizen of the United States or Canada. Citizens of other countries, please click here.
- Be an active, sincere student of Christian Science who is currently a member of The Mother Church or a branch church/society, or who has already applied for membership, or is planning to apply in the next 12 months.
- Be able to provide transcripts confirming a minimum grade point average of 2.5 or higher
- Be enrolled or admitted for at least half-time at an accredited institution in the U.S. or Canada
- Request ABF assistance for tuition, books, and/or room and board fees only
- Willing to take full responsibility for the application process and submission, communication with ABF Staff and eventual repayment of funds borrowed.
Have Any Questions?
- Please see our Frequently Ask Questions page first.
The Application and Award Process
Once you’ve thought through your college and financing options, you begin the ABF process by gathering required documents and lining up references. When this process is complete, you can apply for financial aid using our online application system.
We now have open enrollment for U.S./Canada college (post secondary) and vocational applications. You may apply at any time throughout the year using our online application form. Please allow at least 6 weeks for processing. The Albert Baker Fund does not fund retroactively, so please submit your application in time to receive notification of the award decision before your courses start.
- Application Review
Once an online application is submitted, reviewed, and judged complete, applicants will be contacted to schedule an interview with one of our Regional Vice-Presidents (RVPs). This interview is required and it can be done over the phone or face-to-face. - Tracking Status of Application
Applicants should allow 6–8 weeks after the application deadline before notification is made via email. Applicants can check their status using the online application system. To see a list of statuses and what they mean, please visit the Track the Status of Your Application page. - Receipt of Funds for Successful Applicants
If your application is approved, you will be notified via email. If you receive a scholarship, you will receive a check payable to your educational institution. If you receive loan, you will receive an amortization schedule and promissory note and that must be notarized before a check made payable to you is sent out.
Required Documents
All documents must be submitted using our online application system. Here is a list of the Required Documents.
