Paying for Independent School

The prospect of paying for an independent school education can be daunting. Additionally, applying for financial aid can be unsettling for families. Overall, there are many questions to consider. This section addresses many of them, but please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Gregg with questions.

How much will an independent school cost?

Independent schools publish tuition and fees on their websites for the current year, and those for the coming year generally after the holidays. Annual tuition increases vary from school to school, but increases in the 4% to 6% range are common.

What financial assistance is available at independent schools?

There are two types of financial aid: merit-based and need-based.

● Merit-based aid is awarded based on criteria established by a school. Independent schools vary in their philosophies, policies, and criteria for merit-based aid.

● Need-based aid is awarded based on the financial need of a student’s family. Most independent schools offer need-based aid to newly enrolled candidates.

Will we qualify for need-based financial aid?

The short answer is, “You will not know unless you ask.” That said, be sure to read below the answer to “When should we apply?”

Schools generally utilize an independent third party to assist in determining “financial need.” Two of the most common services providing such assistance to schools are School & Student Services and FACTS. These services utilize complex formulas to determine the amount of a family’s disposable income available for tuition payments. Please note the service’s technically-derived definition of “disposable” income may not match your everyday family definition. While these formulas are fixed, schools are allowed some leeway in how they treat certain financial variables (e.g., whether home equity will be counted as an asset, if tuition paid to other institutions will reduce the disposable income available, etc). 

The school’s ability to treat certain variables as they see fit notwithstanding, schools using the same service should arrive at approximately the same expected family contribution (EFC) regardless of the tuition charged by the school. For instance, if the SSS formula determines that a family’s EFC toward tuition is $5,000, that family would qualify for $10,000 of financial aid at a school charging $15,000 and $20,000 of aid at a school charging $25,000.

There is a distinction, and thus families may see a difference between the amount of aid for which a family qualifies and the amount of aid a school chooses to award. In other words, while it is best practice for schools not to exceed the amount of need-based aid for which a family qualifies, they are not required to provide 100% , or any, of that amount. Need-based aid is awarded entirely at a school's discretion. 

How do we apply for financial aid?

For merit-based aid, you will need to inquire with the school regarding available programs and requirements. 

For need-based aid:

1.  After checking a school's admission webpage to determine the service it uses, create an account on the webpage for that service. 

2. Using that account, complete a parents' financial statement. This is much like filing taxes online. You will need information regarding family income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. 

3. After completing the financial statement, you will have the option to have a copy of the report forwarded to the school(s) to which you are applying. There are matters to consider in deciding when do this. See "When should we apply" below. Note that you will need to complete this statement only once for each service as you can have the report forwarded to multiple schools.

4. If necessary, forward any supplemental information required by schools (e.g., most recent federal tax returns as part of their process. 

When should we apply for financial aid?

The simplest answer is, check the box listed on most admissions applications indicating you are interested in receiving information about financial aid. The follow the steps listed above. 

The more complicated answer is related to the question, "Will applying for need-based financial aid impact our child's chance of being accepted?"

Whichever answer feels more comfortable to you, please know you can get a sense of the EFC prior to actually applying to the school for aid by completing the steps above and not having the report forwarded to any schools. This will allow you to see what the formula has determined is your family's EFC. If you are considering applying for financial aid, taking this step early in the process may offer useful information. 

Will applying for need-based financial aid impact our child's chance of being accepted?

This is one of the most challenging questions for families to ask high school admissions officers whose answers are often carefully crafted to reflect school policy. In short, the is, "It depends."

In an era of strained school budgets and post-recession family budgets, there tends to be more demand for financial assistance than schools can meet. Combine this with a competitive admission pool where enrollment slots, and admissions officers find themselves challenged to ignore a family's ability to pay. While policies and procedures may vary from school to school, these pressures are realities for all school. 

Thus, while applying for financial aid may not impact whether a student is offered admission to a school with a need-blind admission policy, the extent to which aid is available will most certainly impact whether a family can take advantage of that offer. Again, awarding aid is the school's prerogative and may be shaped by factors such as availability of funds, the academic strength of the applicant, and ways in which a candidate might contribute to the life of the high school (e.g. in the arts, athletics, etc.).

Who will see our financial information?

While policies and procedures vary by school, it is good practice for schools to treat such sensitive information confidentially and severely limit its access. Generally, those who will have access may include a director of financial aid, a business manager, and perhaps the director of admission.