Cupich, Sister Jean team up to support scholarship program

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, and Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt of Loyola University Chicago have teamed up for a video promoting the Illinois Invest in Kids Act, which supports scholarships for students from low-income households to attend private schools of their choice.

In the video, available on archchicago.org and the Archdiocese's YouTube channel, Cupich and Sister Jean encourage more donations to the tax credit scholarship program. Donors to the new program will receive a credit off their state income taxes equal to 75 percent of their contribution.

To date, more than 44,000 Illinois students have applied for a tax credit scholarship. That demand vastly outweighs the available funds, according to the archdiocese. Four of five students who applied will not receive a scholarship, unless more individuals and corporations come forward to donate. There are more than $55 million in tax credits still available as part of this program.