Girard College

Girard College is an independent college preparatory 5-day boarding school located on a 43-acre campus in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the eastern United States.Girard College enrolls academically capable students, grades one through twelve, and awards a full scholarship with a yearly value of approximately $63,000 to every child admitted. The scholarship covers most of the costs of attending Girard, including tuition, room and board, books and school uniforms. The scholarship may be renewed yearly until the student's high school graduation. Applicants must be at least six years old (by the first day of first grade), demonstrate good social skills and the potential for scholastic achievement, and come from a single-parent, low-income (determined by HUD guidelines) family. Girard accepts students on the basis of previous school records, admissions testing, a visit and interviews. The process is conducted without preference for race, gender, religion or national origin.Girard's mission is to prepare students for advanced education and life as informed, ethical, and productive citizens through a rigorous educational program that promotes intellectual, social, and emotional growth.Stephen Girard's legacyBorn in the Atlantic merchant and naval seaport city of Bordeaux, in the Kingdom of France, Stephen Girard (1750-1831), was the eldest of nine children. His mother died when he was age 11, and he left home at the age of 14 to spend the next 12 years sailing the seas and learning the international mercantile and shipping business.