1. How/By what philosophy does a school establish its tuition?
In general, three well-founded business principles must prevail for a school to establish an annual price which is appropriate for the school’s sense of corporate purpose and the community it seeks:

• It must price itself to its Vision (found in its Mission and Vision Statements)
  as well as its Educational Philosophy.
• It must price itself to its true costs; and, if it wishes to be broadly available
• It must price itself to include tuition assistance for those families who desire to send their children but who otherwise could not enroll their children.

Taken together, these well-established business principles offer a potential foundation of fiscal stability and additional program development to implement fully its vision—all without excluding potential families of lesser means.

2. How do most private schools determine the tuition and fees they charge?
Although their processes vary, most schools of quality with a stable history have learned long ago to charge the tuition and fees which, together, will cover the true costs of delivering their educational program to their students without having to speculate as to whether or not the budget will balance at the end of the year.

3. What are some of those costs?
The largest expense, of course, would be for personnel—the salaries, benefits (medical, retirement), recruiting and moving expenses, and  further training, etc., so necessary to finding and gathering the best candidates, the expenses for which can be especially challenging in some regions with higher costs of living.

Others include those of maintaining a campus, marketing the school’s benefits, continuously improving the curriculum as well as acquiring the equipment and other resources needed to support it, offering a range of athletic, artistic, and academic
co-curricular programs and opportunities sufficient in number to include each student, hosting the educational and other special events which build a school’s sense of community—these are but an overview.

4. Are there other budget expenses parents of prospective students might benefit from understanding?
A school committed to being available for students regardless of family income must also budget and expend a significant portion of its tuition and other income for tuition assistance in a manner which benefits the entire school as well as each of its students, in much the same manner as does a college.

Enrichment programs—for gifted-and-talented students and for those benefiting from individual learning/teaching strategies, for a Parent Academy and for community outreach, etc.— enhance the school community immeasurably but also require budgeting.