Each year the assumptions on which payout are based—the age of estimated students, their likelihood of attending school in New York (tuition free), the estimated amount of need, and the anticipated returns from investments, etc.—are reviewed and updated by the Stanton Group, an independent actuarial firm. Based on the most recent actuarial calculations, the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund is currently able to cover 70% of student need.
Despite the considerable assets of the Fund, and to the surprise of many who look at the eye-popping number, the assets are still insufficient to cover 100% of anticipated financial need.
Many people have asked us why, with a $108+ million fund, we have given out "only" $49 million in scholarships. The reason is that we hold these funds in trust for the children who are not yet of college age.
The table below highlights the financial aid "bubble" of dependents of 9/11 victims anticipated over the next 10 years, peaking between 2011 and 2016. These are the kids who may have been babies or toddlers when their mother or father was killed or disabled during the 9/11 attacks. Between 2010 and 2019, we anticipate scholarship needs to reach nearly $107 million for these students. Keeping our eye toward the future, it now appears that the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund will be able to meet 70% of the students’ financial need.
Based on the current ages of those estimated eligible students it is anticipated that the following number of students will be receiving financial aid in each of the coming years.
| Year | Recipients |
|
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 71 |
Actual |
| 2003 | 180 |
Actual |
| 2004 | 273 |
Actual |
| 2005 | 302 |
Actual |
| 2006 | 347 |
Actual |
| 2007 | 422 |
Actual |
| 2008 | 527 |
Actual |
| 2009 | 654 |
Actual |
| 2010 | 685 |
Estimated |
| 2011 | 690 |
Estimated |
| 2012 | 673 |
Estimated |
| 2013 | 638 |
Estimated |
| 2014 | 622 |
Estimated |
| 2015 | 612 |
Estimated |
| 2016 | 605 |
Estimated |
| 2017 | 584 |
Estimated |
| 2018 | 589 |
Estimated |
| 2019 | 560 |
Estimated |
| 2020 | 537 |
Estimated |
| 2021 | 486 |
Estimated |
| 2022 | 358 |
Estimated |
| 2023 | 242 |
Estimated |
| 2024 | 125 |
Estimated |
| 2025 | 34 |
Estimated |
| 2026 | 22 |
Estimated |
| 2027 | 14 |
Estimated |
| 2028 | 8 |
Estimated |
| 2029 | 3 |
Estimated |
| 2030 | 0 |
Estimated |
Presented in graph form, we can see that over the 25-year life of the fund, there will be a decade-long "bubble," starting this year, in which 600 students per year receive aid.
