The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations has structured the St. Joseph Student Debt Relief Grant program to be neutral to the discernment process.

The first way we do this, is to require that a grant applicant have a letter of acceptance from an approved religious institute before he can submit an application for a grant. This serves to focus the candidate's attention on discernment of his vocation with the aid of the institute's vocation director, rather than on the issue of his debt.

Once a grant is approved, the manner in which grant payments are made furthers the goal of discernment neutrality. Grant payouts are made according to the normal monthly payment schedule of the loans to the financial institutions that hold the grant recipient's loans.

By making payments over time, rather than a lump-sum payout, we avoid two possibilities for influence on the discernment process:

• That a grant recipient will feel indebted to the Foundation and remain in the order even when discernment is indicating that his vocation lies elsewhere.
• That anyone would be influenced to see entry to religious life as a quick way to eliminate a burdensome debt.