By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — In 1943, the year the Staples Tuition Grants program started with a single $100 donation, tuition, room and board at a university like Yale could set a student back nearly $900. 

Today, that full-term bill tops $83,000, while the average annual cost to attend a four-year private college nationwide has reached $55,000.

To help, the Staples Tuition Grant program, now fueled by hundreds of donors, is poised to distribute roughly $400,000 in May to Staples graduates.

The only requirements for a grant are that the applicant graduate from Staples and demonstrate a genuine financial need as they attend a two- or four-year undergraduate college, university or vocational/trade school.

“This has been an amazing year for us,” said Tim Steele, a Westport resident and program donor, told the Board of Education meeting Monday in the Staples High School cafeteria.

The program set a record for the number of applicants this year.

Some 201 Staples seniors and alumni have applied for awards, 53 more than last year.

“Obviously there is a need,” Steele said.

To help meet the need, the program this year launched an 80^th Anniversary Community Award and an email campaign to draw in more donors.

Steele, whose three children went through the Westport school system, called the campaign a success.

“We will spend the next week or so figuring out how much of the money we raised we can give away,” Steele said. Typically, every dollar that comes in goes out in the form of a grant spread between a general fund and more than 80 named awards.

Last year, awards ranged from $1,000 to $7,500 to 108 recipients. A similar number is expected this year.

About 10 percent of the Staples Class of 2022 received grants through the program. The rest of the recipients were from the classes of 2018-21 as students can reapply while still in college.

This year, 79 applicants were seniors, the rest alumni.

Steele said the program, on average, meets about 17 percent of the gap between what applicants must pay and what their families can afford.

A ceremony will be held in May where student recipients will receive certificates and get the chance to meet with and thank donors in person.

School Board Chairwoman Lee Goldstein thanked Steel and told him the board is grateful for the program.

To learn more about the program, visit the Staples Tuition Grants website.

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Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.