Welcome to the official website of The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation. This site is dedicated to providing detailed information about our scholarship opportunities, including the application process, scholarship categories, profiles of past recipients, answers to common questions, and an electronic submission form for applications.

The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation is a not-for-profit private foundation that has established annual scholarships at Sacred Heart High School in Waterbury, Connecticut, and, more recently, at Saint Paul’s High School in Bristol, Connecticut for those graduating seniors planning to attend college.

It is headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia at the following address:

42756 Threadfin Terrace
Ashburn, Virginia 20148
Cell (352) 422-1221
Email: [email protected]

Background of The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation

“If your plan is for one year, plant rice.
If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children.”
Confucius and/or Guan Zhong

Mr. and Mrs. Deeley were longtime residents of Waterbury before retiring to Virginia. Mr. Deeley worked as a tool-setter for Scovill Manufacturing Company, and Mrs. Deeley raised their children and was active in numerous volunteer organizations. Although neither of them had the opportunity to attend college, they continually emphasized two critical aspects of life. The first was the value of an education. The second was the obligation to give something back to the community. They sacrificed to ensure that their children would have an opportunity for higher education, yet they still found time to volunteer for community activities.

1996, their children, Ted and Donna, established The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation to continue their parents’ legacy of providing a helping hand. The Foundation is recognized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) corporation by the IRS.

The Deeley Foundation offers assistance to eligible high school seniors who qualify for admission to a college or university but lack the financial resources to attend. These scholarships are based on the belief that personal involvement with recipients creates a tangible bond between the student and the donor. Hopefully, this bond will encourage our scholarship recipients to offer personal support to someone else after they graduate by “paying it forward” – in the form of mentoring and/or financial assistance.

History of Our Partnerships With Colleges and Universities

The scholarship was initially restricted to just those Sacred Heart High School seniors applying to Fairfield University because Fairfield had agreed to a matching arrangement. In 2002, the Deeley Foundation, in an effort to provide more students an educational opportunity, expanded the scholarship to include students applying to any four-year college or university. Quinnipiac University and the Deeley Foundation created a matching partnership in 2003, similar to the Fairfield University agreement. In 2004, the Deeley Foundation entered into a matching partnership with the Southern Connecticut State University Foundation. In 2014, in response to rising college costs, the Deeley Foundation broadened its scope once again to include students applying to two-year colleges.

In 2015, the partnerships with Fairfield University and Quinnipiac University were expanded to offer scholarships to students who meet certain financial need criteria. Then, in 2016, the Deeley Foundation instituted a scholarship partnership with Boston College; and, in 2017, the partnerships were extended to include the University of Bridgeport, Sacred Heart University, and the University of Saint Joseph.

Since 2017, our partnerships have continued to grow and evolve.  Changes were made to the basic structures and the amount of funding from our partner colleges and universities.  Partners were added and a couple concluded they could no longer afford the cost and did not renew their partnerships.

Recently FAFSA has changed its rules for determining financial aid and federal regulations on the exchange of student information have become more restrictive.  For that reason, the Deeley Foundation has made an effort to convert our partnership agreements to a simple dollar matching arrangement.  This approach eliminates the need to rely on FAFSA data and removes the need to exchange student admission and financial data with our partners.  We have been successful in converting many of our partners to these matching arrangements, but still have a handful of schools we are working with to effect this conversion.

Beginning in 2017, the Deeley Foundation undertook a major effort to increase the number of our college and university partnerships.  A summary of the expansion of these partnerships is shown in the following chart:

As the number of our partnerships with colleges and universities increased, so did the number of our scholarship awards.  The chart below illustrates the significant increase in our scholarship funding that followed the increase in our partnership agreements.

Profile of Our Scholarship Recipients

We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of our scholarship recipients.  They have a 97% graduation rate (much better than almost all colleges and universities), and it demonstrates the determination of these students to succeed.  Many of our recipients are the first person in their families to attend college.  Over half of them have not only obtained their undergraduate degrees but have also gone on to obtain advanced degrees, as can be seen from the following chart:

The Deeley Foundation provides financial support to 12-16 college students for each academic year. The schools represented by these students include the University of Connecticut, Quinnipiac University, Fairfield University, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Southern Connecticut State University, Central Connecticut State University, The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston University, Gordon College, Coastal Carolina University, St. John’s University, the University of Rhode Island, Williams College, Middlebury College, RPI, the University of Central Florida, Castleton University, Stonehill College, and Hampton University.

The number of males and females awarded a Deeley Foundation scholarship varies from year to year.  However, since our inception, our scholarship awards are about equally distributed between female and male recipients as can be seen from the chart below:

Our recipients attend schools up and down the east coast.  Scholarship recipients are free to attend the college of their choice; however, over half of our scholarship recipients have elected to attend one of our partner colleges or universities.  This is not surprising since we try to form partnerships with those schools where a significant number of our scholarship applicants apply.   The following chart shows the distribution of attendance among our scholarship recipients between partner schools and other colleges and universities.

The following chart shows the percentage of scholarship recipients attending specific colleges or universities.  There are 22 different educational institutions that our recipients have attended and many more where they have obtained advanced degrees.

Although academic achievement certainly is a factor in our selection process, we do NOT necessarily select students who are in the top of their class for our scholarships.   Academic achievement is just one of the many factors that go into selecting our scholarship recipients.  Only about a third of our scholarship awards are made to students in the top 10% of their class; over twice as many of our scholarship recipients are NOT in the top 10%.   We view every student as a potential scholarship recipient regardless of academic standing.

We are seeking those individuals who we think will “make a difference” in the future.   A recipient can be a student who demonstrates a special passion for a particular field of interest, has a unique combination of academic and social skills, and/or has positively impacted the lives of other students.

Applying For The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation Scholarship

This scholarship is available only to high school seniors, regardless of race, gender, or religious belief. All high school seniors are eligible to receive a Deeley Foundation scholarship.  Students are free to attend any college they choose.  We strongly encourage every senior to apply for the scholarship, regardless of whether he/she plans to attend a two-year or a four-year institution.

No members of the Deeley family or anyone with business relationships with The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation or the family-owned or operated businesses are eligible for this award.

Applicants must submit a completed scholarship application by December 31st to be eligible for consideration. Each written application is reviewed by several members of the Deeley Foundation.  After an initial screening, representatives of the Deeley Foundation select about 18 students to be interviewed.  These interviews are held in the spring.  After the interviews are complete, our panel reviews the results of the interviews and makes a final selection of those students being awarded a scholarship. The scholarship recipients are usually notified about three to four weeks after the interviews are completed.

The number of scholarships awarded each year varies from one to four students.  With our expanded partnership agreements with colleges and universities, we have been able to increase the number of scholarship recipients to three or four each year.

The chart below depicts the number of students receiving scholarships for each academic year.  These figures include students in each of the four years of their academic endeavors, ranging from freshmen to seniors, and sometimes include students in graduate school.

The criteria for scholarship selection consist equally of the following areas:

• • Community Involvement
  • Academic Accomplishments
  • Work Experience
  • Extra-Curricular Activities
  • Financial Need
  • College Goals
  • Personal Interview

Regardless of a student’s class ranking, we find the above attributes provide more predictability of college success than any other single factor.  The chart below provides a comparison of the accomplishments of students ranked in the top 10% of their high school class compared to other scholarship recipients.  It is clear that, in our experience, both categories of students are equally successful in college.

The scholarship award is good for four years, provided the recipient remains in good academic standing, is a full-time student (a minimum of 12 credit hours per semester), and continues to meet the financial need requirements. “Good academic standing” requires the student to maintain a minimum of a cumulative 2.5 G.P.A. (2.8 G.P.A., in the case of scholarships with many of our partners) at the end of each academic year. If a recipient fails to remain in good academic standing or becomes a part-time student, then the scholarship can be terminated.

The Deeley Foundation forwards its portion of the scholarship to the college or university or, in some cases, to the school’s foundation, and the school directly administers the scholarship by crediting the amount of the scholarship to the recipient’s invoice for the academic semester.

If a student elects to study abroad on a university sponsored program of studies, then the amount of the scholarship will be provided to the recipient to be applied towards tuition, travel, housing, and meals.

Our Partnerships with Colleges and Universities

The Deeley Foundation has been successful in creating scholarship partnerships with public universities and several private colleges and universities in the Connecticut area. These partnerships allow the Deeley Foundation to stretch our funding dollars and award more money and scholarships to students.  Our partnerships continue to evolve over time as the terms are renegotiated, partners are added, or partners are removed.

None of our partnerships have a specific financial need requirement.  There are four different categories of scholarships offered by the Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation.  Each category is characterized by different funding and eligibility requirements depending upon the agreement with specific partners.  We encourage all applicants to review the types of scholarships available and, when appropriate, select schools meeting their specific circumstances.

There is no need for a scholarship applicant to apply for a specific type of scholarship.  All applicants to colleges and universities partnering with the Deeley Foundation are automatically considered for all scholarship programs that relate to the school(s) to which they have submitted applications.

The current list of our college and university partners follows:

FULL NEED PARTNERSHIPS

• • • • Albertus Magnus College

FULL TUITION PLUS PARTNERSHIPS

• • • • University of Bridgeport
      • University of Hartford

FULL FOUNDATION AND MATCHING PARTNERSHIPS

• • • • Boston College
      • Central Connecticut State University
      • Eastern Connecticut State University
      • Fairfield University
      • Sacred Heart University
      • Southern Connecticut State University
      • Stonehill College
      • Trinity College
      • University of Massachusetts
      • University of New Haven
      • University of Saint Joseph
      • Western Connecticut State University

PARTIAL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS

• • • • All Colleges and Universities (Including Partner Schools)

These partnerships vary from school to school and have different criteria. Specific admission information for each of our partners can be found in the EXTERNAL LINKS section at the bottom of each website page.

While no student is required to attend our partner institutions, when they do, we are usually able to provide larger amounts of scholarships.  Our college and university partners provide about a third of our overall scholarship funding.

The Four Types of Scholarships Available From The Deeley Foundation

This next section describes each of the four types of scholarships available from The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation. The values given below for each type of scholarship are for the four years of college.  All our partnership scholarships REQUIRE students to apply for non-binding “early action” for the colleges of their choice.  This allows our college and university partners time to make acceptance and financial aid decisions in a timely manner.  All scholarship applicants must also complete a Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form and forward this information to their college choices.

For more detailed information about the specific scholarship requirements for a college/university, please go to the Frequently Asked Questions page of our website.

Full Need Scholarships

These scholarships are available for students attending Fairfield University, Stonehill College, Trinity College, the University of New Haven, Assumption University, and Albertus Magnus College. These institutions have agreed to fund 100% of a student’s demonstrated financial need (DFN), up to the total cost of attendance (COA). Since most colleges (except for a few Ivy League schools) are unable to provide funding for 100% of a student’s demonstrated financial need, this is a very exceptional scholarship opportunity.

These scholarships have no specific financial need requirements for students to be eligible.

In addition to meeting 100% of a student’s DFN, these scholarships allow a student to remain eligible for financial aid from Pell Grants, work-study programs, and loans to cover the additional unmet costs associated with a college education.

The value of these scholarships varies with a student’s financial need, and it is difficult to place a specific value on them. Consequently, we are showing the maximum amount if a student has no Expected Family Contribution (EFC); the actual awards will most likely be lower.

Albertus Magnus College – The Deeley Foundation contribution is $60,000, and the maximum value of the scholarship for a student with no EFC is $200,000+.

All scholarship applicants applying to the above schools are also automatically considered for the FULL FOUNDATION AND MATCHING and PARTIAL FOUNDATION scholarships. There is a requirement to maintain a 2.8 G.P.A with these awards.

Full Tuition Plus Scholarships

These scholarships are available for students attending the University of Bridgeport and the University of Hartford. The universities have agreed to offer the minimum of a FULL TUITION SCHOLARSHIP to any Deeley Foundation scholarship recipient.  Students remain eligible to receive Pell Grants, work-study assistance, and loans to help cover the cost of room and board and other costs associated with attendance.

There is no financial need requirement for these scholarships as there is with our FULL TUITION scholarships.

If a scholarship recipient originally received a financial aid package that, when combined with a $15,000 contribution from the Deeley Foundation, exceeds the cost of tuition, the scholarship recipient will retain the original financial aid award from the school and may receive a FULL TUITION PLUS scholarship that exceeds the cost of tuition.

Below are the four-year tuition values of the arrangements we currently have in place with these private universities:

University of Bridgeport – The Deeley Foundation contribution is $60,000, and the value of the scholarship is $128,000+.

University of Hartford – The Deeley Foundation contribution is $60,000, and the value of the scholarship is $180,000+.

All scholarship applicants applying to the University of Bridgeport, and the University of Hartford, are also automatically considered for the FULL FOUNDATION AND MATCHING and PARTIAL FOUNDATION scholarships. There is a requirement to maintain a 2.8 G.P.A with these awards.

Full Foundation and Matching Scholarships

These scholarships refer to the maximum dollar award made solely by the Deeley Foundation to non-partner institutions or to those partnerships that match the Deeley Foundation on a dollar-for-dollar basis.  These scholarships are usually limited to a maximum of $12,000 per academic year or the amount of tuition, whichever is lower.  These awards are in addition to any financial aid already awarded by a college or university.

These scholarships are available for any college or university, both 2-year and 4-year institutions, including those with FULL TUITION and FULL NEED partnerships; and have no specific financial need requirements.

In some cases, there are matching agreements with specific schools, and these partnerships are used for both FULL FOUNDATION AND MATCHING scholarships and for PARTIAL FOUNDATION scholarships; they are limited to the amount of tuition and fees.   Below are the four-year values for the arrangements we currently have with both public and private colleges/universities:

Boston College – The Deeley Foundation portion is up to $60,000 to match self-help aid (the value of federal financial aid), and the value of the scholarship is up to $60,000.

Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) – This scholarship is limited to an amount up to the cost of tuition and fees.  The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $24,000+; this amount is matched by CCSU, and the value of the scholarship is up to $48,000+.

Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) – This scholarship is limited to an amount up to the cost of tuition and fees.  The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $24,000+; this amount is matched by ECSU, and the value of the scholarship is up to $48,000+.

Fairfield University – The Deeley Foundation contribution is matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by Fairfield University.  This scholarship is in addition to any financial aid awarded by Fairfield University during the normal acceptance process.  The total financial aid from the Deeley Foundation and Fairfield University cannot exceed the total cost of tuition and fees.  There is no limit on the number of matching scholarships that can be awarded in any academic year.  The combined value of this financial aid is up to $220,000.

Sacred Heart University – The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $18,000, and the value of the scholarship is up to $144,000.  The scholarship cannot exceed more than 50% of the cost of tuition and fees PLUS $5,000, except in situations of significant financial need.

Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) – The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $24,000+; this amount is matched by SCSU, and the value of the scholarship is up to $48,000+.

Stonehill College – The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $20,000; this amount is matched by Stonehill College, and the value of the scholarship is up to $40,000.  There is a limit that the combination of financial aid already awarded by Stonehill College, when combined with the Deeley Foundation Scholarship, cannot exceed the cost of tuition and fees.

Trinity College – The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $60,000 to match self-help aid (the value of federal financial aid), and the value of the scholarship is up to $60,000.

University of Massachusetts – The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $72,000+; this amount is matched by UMass, and the value of the scholarship is up to $144,000+.

University of New Haven – The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $20,000; this amount is matched by the University of New Haven, and the value of the scholarship is up to $40,000.

University of Saint Joseph – This scholarship is limited to an amount up to the cost of tuition and fees.  The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $72,000, and the value of the scholarship is up to $144,000+.

Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) – The Deeley Foundation contribution is up to $20,000; this amount is matched by WCSU, and the value of the scholarship is up to $40,000.

Any Other College or University – The Deeley Foundation portion is up to $12,000 per year; there is no matching arrangement, and the value of the scholarship is up to $48,000.

All scholarship applicants applying to any of these schools or any other college or university are automatically considered for FULL FOUNDATION AND MATCHING and PARTIAL FOUNDATION scholarships.

Recipients are required to maintain a G.P.A. of 2.5 – 2.75 to remain eligible for these scholarships.

Partial Foundation Scholarships

From time to time the Deeley Foundation interviews students who are not selected for FULL NEED Scholarships, FULL TUITION PLUS Scholarships, FULL TUITION Scholarships, or FULL FOUNDATION AND MATCHING Scholarships, but have made a favorable impression on the selection committee. In these cases, the Deeley Foundation awards PARTIAL FOUNDATION scholarships to these deserving students.

These scholarships are available for any college or university, both 2-year and 4-year institutions, and have no specific financial need requirements.

The amounts of these PARTIAL FOUNDATION scholarships range from a minimum of $2,000 per year to a maximum of $8,000 per year.

Any College or University (Including Partners) – The Deeley Foundation portion is up to $10,000 per year; there may or may not be a matching amount from a partner institution, and the value of the scholarship is up to $40,000.

We have, on occasion, made exceptions to these guidelines and modified our awards to better match the needs of our recipients. This can take the form of reducing the amount of scholarship in one year and increasing it in subsequent years. In all cases, we are guided by what is needed to help a student succeed.

The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation has awarded over $2.0 million dollars in scholarships to students.  Although the amounts of individual scholarships vary, the average value of a four-year scholarship is over $30,000.

The graph below shows the dollar value of the scholarship awards made by The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation and the colleges/universities to which the awards were made.

Distribution of Deeley Foundation Scholarship Awards By Geographic Area

Although our scholarship recipients are free to attend any college of their choosing, they generally attend colleges and universities up and down the east coast.  The map below shows the geographic location of the colleges and universities that our recipients have attended:

Additional Support From The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation

We are very proud of our voluntary mentoring program with former scholarship recipients.  This program matches all new scholarship recipients with former recipients who either have the same major or have attended the same college or university.  Almost half of our scholarship recipients have either served or are serving as mentors and are helping us to “pay it forward”.

These past recipients are engaged in a wide range of careers and activities, and we can call upon this unique network to offer mentoring and guidance to current scholarship students.  Every previous scholarship recipient we have asked to serve as a mentor for a new scholarship recipient has gladly agreed to do so!

Channel 8 WTNH in New Haven broadcast an interview with one of our recent scholarship recipients, Marcus Concepcion, who will be attending Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  Marcus speaks about his relationship with his mentor, Brian Luis, and his own plans for serving as a mentor in the future.

You can view the interview by clicking on the arrow in the middle of the picture.

Since recipients submit their grades to The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation at the end of every semester, there is ongoing communication between recipients and the Deeley Foundation throughout their four years of college.  When requested by a scholarship recipient, we offer help in several areas.  This can take the form of suggesting majors, helping with course selections, finding sources for additional academic help, or other support.

We’ve also helped scholarship students who are about to graduate in preparing their resumes, suggesting possible job opportunities, providing references, writing letters of recommendation, reviewing resumes, and providing job and/or interviewing tips and techniques.

For scholarship recipients who are already in the workplace, we’ve offered advice in areas ranging from job and career changes to starting their own businesses.

In most cases, we remain in contact with recipients well after they graduate. Look on the Updates On Past And Current Scholarship Recipients page of our website to see what some of our past recipients are doing and which ones have served as mentors.

More specific details about The Thomas and Elsie Deeley Foundation, the scholarship application process, and the requirements for scholarship programs at various schools can be found by visiting the section of our website called Frequently Asked Questions.