ATDP’s goal is to invite qualified local students to attend the program year after year regardless of their family’s ability to pay. Bay Area students completing grades K–10 are invited to apply for need-based financial aid. Eleventh Graders who are returning to the program may also apply.

Awards cover up to 100% of base tuition only; they do not cover transportation, textbooks, supplies, course facilities fees or other expenses. The remaining amount due with a full aid award (100%) is shown with each course listing.

Almost all of ATDP’s operating budget, including its financial aid fund, comes from program fees. The amount of available financial aid depends on the number of paying applicants, so the maximum amount of aid awards may be more limited when the economic times are hard.

• Submit your most recent complete federal tax return (all pages) with your ATDP application. Please redact all sensitive non-financial information, such as Social Security numbers.
• If you do not have tax documents, submit other proof of income such as pay stubs or eligibility letters for free/reduced lunch.
• If payment of the non-refundable $50 processing fee poses a financial hardship, attach a signed note of explanation with the tax returns or the student’s Letter of Interest in lieu of the payment.

Submission Options

• By fax: Fax all pages of your federal tax documents to 510-642-0510. Tip: you can send a fax with your computer through free sites like gotfreefax.com or faxzero.com (limitations apply).

• By mail: Make a complete copy of all pages of your federal tax documents (all pages) and send in a single package by mail. Do not send originals.

  Be advised that mailing your documents may delay your financial aid decision, though this will not affect the course placement process. We STRONGLY recommend sending your documents by fax if possible.

For preliminary consideration and to avoid delay in submitting your application, you may submit your 2022 return if your 2023 return is not yet available. We will ask for your 2023 return at a later date, if required.

If there are special circumstances, submit a letter of explanation and copies of any supporting documents (e.g., unemployment forms).

Requests for financial aid must be submitted by the standard application deadline (see rightbelow). Requests submitted after the deadline will be considered by exception only.

All admission and placement decisions are made independently of financial aid status. Your application will not be held up pending a financial aid decision. However, we can only evaluate your request for financial aid once we receive all required documents. Financial aid decisions are based on total financial resources, not only on household income. Applicants who are accepted will be mailed notification of the amount of financial aid with their acceptance letter. Families who need to pay tuition in installments will have until two weeks before the start of class to do so (see rightbelow).