Sage Scholars Tuition Rewards Program
The Program
The program allows families who are saving for college by investing or making deposits with participating banks and financial institutions, to earn "points" to provide students with undergraduate scholarships to Carroll College for up to the cost of freshman year tuition, spread evenly over four undergraduate years, starting with the freshman year.
The Tuition Rewards is a national program coordinated by the Philadelphia-based Savings and Growth For Education (SAGE), which allows depositors and investors (Sponsors) with affiliated banks and financial services firms (SAGE Financial Affiliates) to provide tuition points (Tuition Rewards) to attend college.
How It Works
Tuition Rewards Point are like frequent-flyer miles except they are for college tuition! The Points are discounts off tuition at participating private colleges and universities. For example, if a student has 10,000 Tuition Rewards Points, he or she is guaranteed to receive a minimum scholarship of $10,000 (spread equally over four years) at a SAGE member school. To help make a high-quality college education financially accessible to more families, Carroll College is an active participant and member in the Tuition Rewards Enrollment Consortium sponsored by SAGE. Please note: SAGE funds will be represented in the financial aid award as an institutionally named scholarship or grant and will not be listed specifically as a SAGE award unless their total earnings exceed the maximum amount of funds offered by the institution.
Sponsor - the Account Holders
Throughout the SAGE website, the term "Sponsor" is frequently used. A "Sponsor" is typically the parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle who is the owner of the investment that is earning Tuition Rewards. Sponsors are required to register on the SAGE website to be able to track and utilize the Tuition Rewards Points. Sponsors are responsible for adding students to their Tuition Rewards account, assigning Tuition Rewards Points to their students, and submitting Tuition Rewards Points to Carroll College.
Earning Tuition Reward Points
Typically you can earn Tuition Rewards by saving or investing with one or more of the SAGE financial partners, or by being an employee of a company that is partnered with SAGE to provide Tuition Rewards as an employee benefit. In most cases, you earn Tuition Rewards at a rate of 5% annually (or 2.5% semi-annually) based on the value of your investments with SAGE partners. As your assets appreciate, so do your Tuition Reward Points!
Here's an example: if you invest $25,000 with a SAGE financial partner, and assuming the asset does not increase or decrease in value, then you will earn 1,250 Tuition Reward Points annually. If you hold this investment for five years, then you will accumulate 6,250 Tuition Rewards Points. The more you invest with SAGE financial partners, and the longer that you are a SAGE member, the more Tuition Reward Points you'll earn!
For additional information about the SAGE Tuition Rewards Program, visit the SAGE website.