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TRF Receives $10 Million To Expand Charter Schools
The Reinvestment Fund has financed 27 charter schools, serving over fifteen thousand students in the last seven years. With more than $42 million in charter school loans and a 0% loss rate, TRF has developed a solid reputation for turning the risk associated with such financing into stories of success. It’s partly why TRF was awarded a $10 million grant by the U.S. Department of Education to expand charter schools in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Announced on August 18, 2005, TRF received one of only five such grants awarded nationally and one of only two $10 million grants. The grant will be used to establish a $60 million TRF Charter School Growth Fund (TRF Growth Fund).
A multi-product loan program, TRF Growth Fund will include $10 million in first loss reserves from the DOE’s Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities grant. Additional capital for the program will come from private sources including banks who supported and invested in TRF’s previous charter school fund, the Charter School Capital Access Program (CCAP).
“Charter schools are becoming increasingly popular in this region as a quality alternative to traditional public schools,” explains Sara Vernon Sterman, Managing Director of TRF’s Charter School Lending program. “In states like Maryland, where the fledgling charter school movement is only beginning to take hold, we expect demand for such funding to only increase in the next few years.”
Unlike public schools, charter schools have to locate their own facilities and the process can often be complex and costly. The TRF Growth Fund will offer financing and technical services in construction management and energy efficiency planning in order to decrease the overall project cost associated with charters. In addition to the project development assistance, the program will also deliver organizational and business assessments to help stabilize the start-ups that they will finance and the emerging charter management organizations grow and expand.
The TRF Growth Fund will comprise of two financing pools: a $15 million pool to fund subordinated debt, energy efficiency loans, leasehold improvements, and loans; and a $35 million permanent mortgage pool. The program will service charter schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
About The Reinvestment Fund
The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) is a leading innovator in the financing of neighborhood and economic revitalization. At the core of our mission is our commitment to put capital to work for the public good.
TRF is a $255 million development finance corporation with a wealth-building agenda for low- and moderate-income people and places through the strategic use of capital, knowledge and innovation.
TRF has a wide array of finance, policy and service programs including affordable housing, community services, small business, private equity, workforce development, public policy and research, and sustainable energy. TRF’s programs extend throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, DC.
For more information on TRF’s Charter Schools Lending, contact Sara Vernon Sterman at sara.vernon.sterman@trfund.com.