Q: I am setting up a non-profit scholarship foundation aimed at teaching students with learning disabilities. We are at the point where we need to structure a sliding scale for the scholarships. How do we go about setting something like that up?

Patrick O'Heffernan responds:

First, establish the criteria. Colleges often use the following data:
* Household income
* Existing savings for college
* Outside earnings (summer jobs, campus jobs)
* Other aid (fellowships, salary for serving as a lab tech or teaching associate
* Athletic scholarships
* Major

These are a good place to start. 

Depending on your objectives, you might add in or substitute gender, sexual orientation, disability and/or race. Don't forget to check with your attorney that recent legal decisions will not impact your effort.

When you have determined which criteria can best achieve your objectives (such as "encourage women of color from lower income families to obtain degrees in engineering"), determine metrics and assign points to your criteria to determine the amount of the scholarship. In the example above, your sliding scale might look like this this:
 
Family income:
* $0 - $30k/year = 5 points
* $31k - $40K = 4 points
* $41k - $55k = 3 points
* $56k - $65K = 2 points
* Over $65k = 0 points

Financial criteria:
* College savings (set up point scale)
* Outside earnings (set up point scale)
* Other aid (set up point scale)
* Athletic scholarships (set up point scale)
etc.

Then allocate your scholarships based on points; the more points the more aid.