FEELC Scholarship Program
About the FEELC Scholarship Program
In 2010, First Environments Early Learning Center (FEELC) received a substantial donation from the Philpot family to start a scholarship fund. In the following years, many families have contributed by donating their tuition deposits towards the scholarship fund when leaving FEELC. Proceeds from various fundraising events have also helped the scholarship fund to grow. We are forever grateful to the Philpot family and our wonderful FEELC community as this FEELC Scholarship Program is possible because of supporters like you. Thank you!
The FEELC Scholarship Program is available to assist qualified families with the cost of tuition at the Center. The FEELC Parent Board will accept applications and award scholarships to the families who show the most financial need among the pool of applicants. Because qualification is relative to the financial need of the pool of applicants in a given year, families that do not receive the Scholarship one year are encouraged to re-apply in succeeding years.
The FEELC scholarship is offered between September 1st through August 31st of each school year. FEELC will be offering scholarships for at least 2 families. These scholarships will provide these families with $100 per tuition draft to be used towards payment of their FEELC tuition ($2,600 for the year). Scholarship applications are reviewed and processed confidentially by the FEELC Parent Board, who will base their decision upon family income eligibility and families with the greatest financial need.
The FEELC Parent Board will use the following eligibility requirements and application process to award the scholarships.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for a FEELC scholarship:
1. Interested families must apply during the eligibility window.
2. Families must complete and sign the application and provide relevant documentation each year for consideration.
3. Applicants must attest that they do NOT currently receive any childcare tuition assistance from NIH, EPA, or the State of North Carolina.
a. If a family currently receiving FEELC scholarship funds becomes eligible for receiving tuition
assistance from NIH, EPA, or the State of North Carolina, the family must notify FEELC
immediately so that the remaining scholarship funds for the school year can be awarded to
the next eligible family who applied with a complete application during the most recent
scholarship award review cycle.
Priority Considerations
Scholarship priority will be given to families based on the following criteria:
Greatest financial need.
a. Household income <$100,000 will be prioritized, which was determined based on the local (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) cost
2. Additional household considerations.
a. Care for additional family members, health concerns, loss of employment, etc. will be confidentially taken into consideration.
3. Tenure at FEELC
a. Full-time families will be prioritized. Part-time families will receive a prorated amount of tuition reduction based on days of enrollment.
b. Families who have been enrolled at FEELC > 6 months will be prioritized.
4. Any additional information provided in the application will be confidentially taken into consideration.
Application Process
Applicants must complete and submit the application form and required supporting documentation to the FEELC Director for the 2026-2027 scholarship between August 1 and 14th and will run from September 1, 2026- August 31, 2027. Incomplete scholarship applications or those submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
The Parent Board will notify all applicants of their decision in two weeks. There will be rolling applications throughout the year when all scholarships have not been awarded.
Applicants must agree to the method for scholarship payments as outlined below.
Signing the application form indicates an understanding and acceptance of the eligibility requirements as well as the scholarship payment method as stated in this program information document.
Click the following link to access the current FEELC Scholarship Program Information & Application.
Scholarship Payments
Recipients will be charged a bi-weekly tuition rate that is reduced by the scholarship award amount for one school year (i.e., the recipient's bi-weekly tuition rate will be decreased by $100.00 for one year).
First Environments Early Learning Center admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the
rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does
not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies,
admissions policies, and other school-administered programs.
Supporting the Scholarship Fund
MATCHING CONTRIBUTION CHALLENGE FOR THE FIRST ENVIRONMENTS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
Double your impact today by contributing to the First Environments Scholarship Fund! The Philpot family has generously agreed to match donations of up to $1,000 each year for the next three years to encourage donors to make contributions to our Scholarship Fund, which helps provide tuition assistance for those in need.
To make a donation, please click on the following link to complete and submit our Donation Form.
Last updated: 6/22/2026