Post-Secondary Education Funds
PYM members and their dependents enrolled in post-secondary educational programs may apply for Mary Jeanes Grants. Those in the field of “domestic, industrial or practical arts” are also eligible for Anne Townsend grants.
☞ n.b. – PYM members who are Swarthmore College students may also apply for the Jonathan Taylor Swarthmore Scholarship, administered by Stony Run Meeting of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. Contact Cindy Maier at cynthiamaier13@gmail.com or Nick Fessenden at nicholasfessenden@comcast.net. Their application deadline is June 1st, annually.
How To Apply
The same form is used for both Mary Jeanes and Anne Townsend grants. To apply, download and complete an application form [PDF] for the current year. Forms are posted each year by March 1st for the academic year beginning in the Fall. The application form must be completed and submitted with the following additional documentation by May 1st, 2021. Be sure to include:
- Transcript from your most recent school (“official” version not required)
- Personal statement detailing your course of study and vocational plans (1 page)
- Letter or email from your Meeting Clerk affirming membership (not required for prior year recipients)
- Letter or email of recommendation from a teacher/coach/advisor (not required for prior year recipients)
- Most recent Federal Income Tax Form(s) (1040) for Applicant and/or person(s) responsible for school expenses (Do not send 1040 schedules/attachments unless necessary to illustrate extraordinary circumstances.) For your own security, please ink out all occurrences of social security numbers thoroughly.
Return the completed application form and required documentation by the May 1st deadline. Our normal deadline remains May 1st for 2021.
By mail: postmarked by May 1st, 2021.
☞ n.b. – We encourage you to apply electronically if at all possible during the current COVID-19 pandemic in order to ensure that we can get you a reply on time.
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting
Post Secondary Education Grants
1515 Cherry Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
By email: grants@pym.org with Post Secondary in subject line (Google Drive, Dropbox, or other sharing links are generally fine, but please email us directly, with Post Secondary in the subject line, with that link so that we can follow up with you if we have access issues.)
Applications, if complete, will be considered in mid-May. Applicants are responsible for submitting complete applications with all attachments. Notification letters will be mailed by July 1 to all applicants. Grant checks, paid directly to individual recipients, are mailed by August 15.
Contact
PYM Grants Staff
Grants@pym.org
Funds
The Mary Jeanes Fund was established in 1896 by the Jeanes family estate “to aid deserving young Friends to procure an education, also to assist them to obtain the necessary course to prepare them for teaching by loaning money without interest, to be returned by them as soon as able.” The Fund was minuted in 2013 to be entirely a grant fund.
The Anne Townsend Grant Fund was established in 1896 by the estate of Anne P. Townsend to provide grants to PYM Friends securing an education in the field of “domestic, industrial or practical arts, such as that as may be obtained at Drexel Institute, preference being given to such persons as live in suburban and rural communities, my intention being that such income shall not be applied for the maintenance or support of Friends Schools as now established.”
Loan Repayment (for recipients prior to 2013)
Prior to 2013, the Mary Jeanes fund operated by awarding interest-free loans, rather than grants. These supported Friends in a wide variety of post-secondary schooling, including vocational schools, liberal arts colleges, graduate schools and technical training. After that date, all awards were in the form of grants.
☞ Loans may be repaid by mailing a check to: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Attn: Accounting, 1515 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102; checks must include “Mary Jeanes Loan” and the name of the loan recipient in the memo line.
For questions about repayment of loans received prior to 2013, contact grants@pym.org. By making loan repayments, recipients assure that financial support for education will be available to future generations of Friends.
Upon notification of a Mary Jeanes Loan award prior to 2013, recipients affirmed the following:
- Within one year of leaving school or college, but not later than five years from the date hereof, I will begin repaying Loan by making consecutive monthly payments equal to 2% of the Loan. In the event I shall have received more than one loan from the Mary Jeanes Loan Fund, my monthly payment shall be 2% of the aggregate amount of all outstanding loans. In any event, the Loan shall be paid in full on or before five years from the date of leaving school or college (i.e., the “due date”). I understand that Loan may be repaid in advance of the above schedule at any time.
- I understand that Loan will be interest-free.
- I agree that timely repayment of Loan will be an equal obligation along with any other debt contracted by me while attending school or college.
- I acknowledge that Loan checks will be made payable to me, personally, and I agree that all Loan proceeds will be used by me exclusively for school or college-related expenses.
- I agree to notify PYM in writing of any changes in my contact information.
- In the event I continue my education in professional or graduate school, or in the event my personal circumstances shall require it, I acknowledge that I may apply to PYM to renegotiate the terms of my repayment of Loan; provided, however, any new terms must be agreed to by PYM and in writing.
- In receiving this loan, I acknowledge that the Mary Jeanes Loan Fund is a resource of the religious community (PYM) of which I am a member, and that it is a resource not only for me, but for those who will come after me. In this light, I accept a moral responsibility, as well as a legal one, to repay this loan so that others may also enjoy the benefit that I now have.