$60k

[Anonymous]

Even at $60k, Holton does not cover operating costs on tuition alone. They make up the shortfall with donations. Tuition would need to be around $70k (I forget the exact number) to break even, without donations. I think they could make it work at the current tuition rate (without donatins) if they dropped financial aid, but there's a drawback to that of course.

Tuition was $50,375 in 2022-2023, is $57,875 in the current year (2025-2026). That's a 14.9% increase, compared to a CPI (inflation) increase of about 10% during that period.

To me, that's not crazy when measured against inflation.

Oh, and the school opened with a 2-hour delay on Thursday, and operated a full schedule on Friday. How did MCPS do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If public schools were significantly better, there would be more competition and it would be harder to keep increasing the tuition above inflation. But that is not the case, so an annual increase of 4 to 6 percent will continue to be the norm in the years to come.

Some case studies: The best school in the DMV is a public school. The best schools in NYC are public schools. But if you have the cash and your kid can’t get in or if you are afraid of minorities, then off to private school to buy some nice diplomas.

For best high school in the DMV, are you referring to TJHSST? Hardly an example of fair admissions or not fearing minorities considering they had to change their admission criteria to ensure more racial balance, and then parents sued all the way up to the Supreme Court.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even at $60k, Holton does not cover operating costs on tuition alone.

Every non-profit independent school in the country does not cover operating costs on tuition alone. The business model itself relies on fund raising to supplement the gap between operating expenses and tuition income.

As parents/customers we can have opinions on how a school chooses to spend their funds - like massive HOS or admin salaries. The balance sheet at the end of the year is still zero or negative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even at $60k, Holton does not cover operating costs on tuition alone. They make up the shortfall with donations. Tuition would need to be around $70k (I forget the exact number) to break even, without donations. I think they could make it work at the current tuition rate (without donatins) if they dropped financial aid, but there's a drawback to that of course.

Tuition was $50,375 in 2022-2023, is $57,875 in the current year (2025-2026). That's a 14.9% increase, compared to a CPI (inflation) increase of about 10% during that period.

To me, that's not crazy when measured against inflation.

Oh, and the school opened with a 2-hour delay on Thursday, and operated a full schedule on Friday. How did MCPS do?

I would be interested to know the correspondin increase in teachers’ and HOS salaries. I suspect the latter greatly surpasses the former.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even at $60k, Holton does not cover operating costs on tuition alone. They make up the shortfall with donations. Tuition would need to be around $70k (I forget the exact number) to break even, without donations. I think they could make it work at the current tuition rate (without donatins) if they dropped financial aid, but there's a drawback to that of course.

Tuition was $50,375 in 2022-2023, is $57,875 in the current year (2025-2026). That's a 14.9% increase, compared to a CPI (inflation) increase of about 10% during that period.

To me, that's not crazy when measured against inflation.

Oh, and the school opened with a 2-hour delay on Thursday, and operated a full schedule on Friday. How did MCPS do?

I would be interested to know the correspondin increase in teachers’ and HOS salaries. I suspect the latter greatly surpasses the former.

I have no information on this, but I've seen similar questions in the context of big companies. There just aren't that many people in top management (or HOS, in this case) roles so increasing their salary by even 50% has a much smaller dent on the budget than raise salaries of all non-management by 10%, just because there are so many more of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does Holton give a lot of financial aid? Provide all school supplies? Have bus service at no extra cost? Finding it hard to justify this tuition for lower grades.

Holton does include breakfast and lunch in the cost of tuition. Families pay extra for bussing and books. And no this does not justify $60K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even at $60k, Holton does not cover operating costs on tuition alone. They make up the shortfall with donations. Tuition would need to be around $70k (I forget the exact number) to break even, without donations. I think they could make it work at the current tuition rate (without donatins) if they dropped financial aid, but there's a drawback to that of course.

Tuition was $50,375 in 2022-2023, is $57,875 in the current year (2025-2026). That's a 14.9% increase, compared to a CPI (inflation) increase of about 10% during that period.

To me, that's not crazy when measured against inflation.

Oh, and the school opened with a 2-hour delay on Thursday, and operated a full schedule on Friday. How did MCPS do?

I would be interested to know the correspondin increase in teachers’ and HOS salaries. I suspect the latter greatly surpasses the former.

I have no information on this, but I've seen similar questions in the context of big companies. There just aren't that many people in top management (or HOS, in this case) roles so increasing their salary by even 50% has a much smaller dent on the budget than raise salaries of all non-management by 10%, just because there are so many more of them.

Except that the main determinant of educational outcomes is the quality of the teachers. Retaining top teachers should be the priority. If the teachers are unhappy with the compensation or the administration, they just leave. Unfortunately, that’s become the norm at Holton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even at $60k, Holton does not cover operating costs on tuition alone. They make up the shortfall with donations. Tuition would need to be around $70k (I forget the exact number) to break even, without donations. I think they could make it work at the current tuition rate (without donatins) if they dropped financial aid, but there's a drawback to that of course.

Tuition was $50,375 in 2022-2023, is $57,875 in the current year (2025-2026). That's a 14.9% increase, compared to a CPI (inflation) increase of about 10% during that period.

To me, that's not crazy when measured against inflation.

Oh, and the school opened with a 2-hour delay on Thursday, and operated a full schedule on Friday. How did MCPS do?

I would be interested to know the correspondin increase in teachers’ and HOS salaries. I suspect the latter greatly surpasses the former.

I have no information on this, but I've seen similar questions in the context of big companies. There just aren't that many people in top management (or HOS, in this case) roles so increasing their salary by even 50% has a much smaller dent on the budget than raise salaries of all non-management by 10%, just because there are so many more of them.

Except that the main determinant of educational outcomes is the quality of the teachers. Retaining top teachers should be the priority. If the teachers are unhappy with the compensation or the administration, they just leave. Unfortunately, that’s become the norm at Holton.

This is a problem prevalent in most private schools, not just Holton. Salaries in education are lagging other sectors. There is an overall shortage of good teachers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If public schools were significantly better, there would be more competition and it would be harder to keep increasing the tuition above inflation. But that is not the case, so an annual increase of 4 to 6 percent will continue to be the norm in the years to come.

Some case studies: The best school in the DMV is a public school. The best schools in NYC are public schools. But if you have the cash and your kid can’t get in or if you are afraid of minorities, then off to private school to buy some nice diplomas.

Holton may be better than some MD publics. But is it $1 mil better? Almost certainly not. Especially since there is a good argument that the same kid does better in college admissions coming from a public vs a non-elite private like Holton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even at $60k, Holton does not cover operating costs on tuition alone. They make up the shortfall with donations. Tuition would need to be around $70k (I forget the exact number) to break even, without donations. I think they could make it work at the current tuition rate (without donatins) if they dropped financial aid, but there's a drawback to that of course.

Tuition was $50,375 in 2022-2023, is $57,875 in the current year (2025-2026). That's a 14.9% increase, compared to a CPI (inflation) increase of about 10% during that period.

To me, that's not crazy when measured against inflation.

Oh, and the school opened with a 2-hour delay on Thursday, and operated a full schedule on Friday. How did MCPS do?

But one extra day shouldn't be worth $60K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If public schools were significantly better, there would be more competition and it would be harder to keep increasing the tuition above inflation. But that is not the case, so an annual increase of 4 to 6 percent will continue to be the norm in the years to come.

Some case studies: The best school in the DMV is a public school. The best schools in NYC are public schools. But if you have the cash and your kid can’t get in or if you are afraid of minorities, then off to private school to buy some nice diplomas.

Holton may be better than some MD publics. But is it $1 mil better? Almost certainly not. Especially since there is a good argument that the same kid does better in college admissions coming from a public vs a non-elite private like Holton.

This is a massive fallacy. Something like 30-40% of Ivy League students come from private schools.

[Anonymous]

Roughly 1 in 4 students are on financial aid at Holton.
My family pays under 20K each year.
We are very grateful. We love the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If public schools were significantly better, there would be more competition and it would be harder to keep increasing the tuition above inflation. But that is not the case, so an annual increase of 4 to 6 percent will continue to be the norm in the years to come.

Some case studies: The best school in the DMV is a public school. The best schools in NYC are public schools. But if you have the cash and your kid can’t get in or if you are afraid of minorities, then off to private school to buy some nice diplomas.

Holton may be better than some MD publics. But is it $1 mil better? Almost certainly not. Especially since there is a good argument that the same kid does better in college admissions coming from a public vs a non-elite private like Holton.

This is a massive fallacy. Something like 30-40% of Ivy League students come from private schools.

Being rich, not necessarily smart, gets you into top colleges over others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If public schools were significantly better, there would be more competition and it would be harder to keep increasing the tuition above inflation. But that is not the case, so an annual increase of 4 to 6 percent will continue to be the norm in the years to come.

Some case studies: The best school in the DMV is a public school. The best schools in NYC are public schools. But if you have the cash and your kid can’t get in or if you are afraid of minorities, then off to private school to buy some nice diplomas.

Holton may be better than some MD publics. But is it $1 mil better? Almost certainly not. Especially since there is a good argument that the same kid does better in college admissions coming from a public vs a non-elite private like Holton.

This is a massive fallacy. Something like 30-40% of Ivy League students come from private schools.

Being rich, not necessarily smart, gets you into top colleges over others.

Yep.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2023/07/24/1189443223/affirmative-action-for-rich-kids-its-more-than-just-legacy-admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If public schools were significantly better, there would be more competition and it would be harder to keep increasing the tuition above inflation. But that is not the case, so an annual increase of 4 to 6 percent will continue to be the norm in the years to come.

Some case studies: The best school in the DMV is a public school. The best schools in NYC are public schools. But if you have the cash and your kid can’t get in or if you are afraid of minorities, then off to private school to buy some nice diplomas.

Holton may be better than some MD publics. But is it $1 mil better? Almost certainly not. Especially since there is a good argument that the same kid does better in college admissions coming from a public vs a non-elite private like Holton.

This is a massive fallacy. Something like 30-40% of Ivy League students come from private schools.

Being rich, not necessarily smart, gets you into top colleges over others.

That wasn’t the point.