Question on High Tuition…

[Anonymous]

I have a quick question.

Normally if there are monopolistic practices that are detrimental to consumers you could file a claim at the federal trade commission or the office of consumer protection in dc. Is there anything similar for schools, or in essence they are free to charge anything they want. This is genuine question. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Just as an example there are regulations that prevent an excessive increase in rents and you could file a complaint if rents grow at an excessive rate.

[Anonymous]

OP, we aren't entitled to independent schools. They can charge what they like.

[Anonymous]

They charge what they need to cover their costs. It’s incredibly expensive to run a private school, and they have to fundraise on top of the tuition revenue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They charge what they need to cover their costs. It’s incredibly expensive to run a private school, and they have to fundraise on top of the tuition revenue.

Some of the head salaries are outrageous. They’ll charge as much as they think they can get away with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just as an example there are regulations that prevent an excessive increase in rents and you could file a complaint if rents grow at an excessive rate.

That's not a universal thing--no such regulations in MD or VA. If a tenant doesn't like the rent increase, they move. There's a similar principle at work for private school.

[Anonymous]

I read recently that there was a a proposal in Arizona to cap the tuition increases:

https://www.future-ed.org/legislative-tracker-2025-state-private-school-choice-bills/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

The reason I am saying this is that in my case tuition expenses have increased by 30 percent in 2 years. I understand a rate of 5 percent per year but I am experiencing higher rates. That’s all.

I understand the concept of free market. For instance doesn’t make sense to put a cap on bmws so everyone can afford a bmw. But at the same time, we are purchasing a service over 12 years, and I would expect a more stable rate increase over time.

[Anonymous]

There is perfectly good public school you can send your kid to

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is perfectly good public school you can send your kid to

Not so quick my friend. I thought there is something called financial aid…..

[Anonymous]

It’s funny that excessive price increases in health care could potentially be linked to abusive practices in the health care market.

Not sure why the tax exemptions does not translate in lower tuition costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They charge what they need to cover their costs. It’s incredibly expensive to run a private school, and they have to fundraise on top of the tuition revenue.

Some of the head salaries are outrageous. They’ll charge as much as they think they can get away with.

Yep. Many of the Baltimore schools have beautiful campuses and are significantly less than what we have to pay in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Salaries of HOS are close to 1 million in the top DC schools.

[Anonymous]

You could if you could prove monopolistic practices, but that isn’t what’s happening here. There are tons of options. Many of them just happen to be expensive, as there is high demand for them.

[Anonymous]

But I do think that there is a distortion in the market. If public schools were better, private school would be cheaper. The actual situation is one of lack of competition, I believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Salaries of HOS are close to 1 million in the top DC schools.

This is nauseating. Their main skill is PR.