Percentage of Students on Financial Aid at Major Privates is Depressing

[Anonymous]

Why exactly do you find it depressing?
Because tuition is so expensive that so many need aid? Or not enough families are being helped, in your opinion?

I went to privates schools in Europe, and for a brief period, sent my kids to some before we came here to the DC area. In 2013, a good private international school in Paris was about 12K euros per year. Paris has a higher cost of living than DC.

Here the private schools cost 60K a year and there is no way I want to pay for acres of lawn, sports complexes, leather armchairs in the library, etc... when the actual teaching is on par with what my kids had in Paris at 12K euros a year. Granted, the campuses weren't luxurious at all. But at least the food was OK.

So here we're in good public schools. They need to bring lunch, because the school lunches are inedible. Otherwise the teaching is fine. The buildings are a notch down from what they had in their Parisian privates, but still OK.

It's really nice that parents on this board can afford to pay 60K a year for something that's not US undergrad. I wouldn't want to be on financial aid for private K-12, personally.

[Anonymous]

It would be interesting to know the size of the average award. I know a family making 300k and getting some financial aid. This makes me think private schools are not getting many low and middle income kids. I know that everyone on here believes they are middle class but it is simply not true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GDS: 23.9%
Sidwell: 21%
Maret: 24%
NCS: 21%
STA: 29%

Now do average financial aid amounts..
Financial aid at these schools are worth millions of dollars. They are more generous with aid than colleges in the U.S.

Worthy applicants can benefit greatly if they can tolerate being token socioeconomic diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What other schools?

milton academy: nearly 60%
roxbury latin: 40%
philips andover: 45%
philips exeter: 50%

many could do better. but still, would like to see the DC schools step it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be interesting to know the size of the average award. I know a family making 300k and getting some financial aid. This makes me think private schools are not getting many low and middle income kids. I know that everyone on here believes they are middle class but it is simply not true

Private k-12 schools choose to give paltry to FA to high percentages of the class rather than focus on giving FA to truly needy students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What other schools?

milton academy: nearly 60%
roxbury latin: 40%
philips andover: 45%
philips exeter: 50%

many could do better. but still, would like to see the DC schools step it up.

Milton’s endowment is half a billion dollars.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What other schools?

milton academy: nearly 60%
roxbury latin: 40%
philips andover: 45%
philips exeter: 50%

many could do better. but still, would like to see the DC schools step it up.

Milton’s endowment is half a billion dollars.

If you look at the endowments of some of these schools, they were built only in the last 50 years or so. If this were a priority for real, DC schools could do it. But the reality is they prioritize buildings and educating the washington "elite" with an occasional carrot-chopping project for the soup kitchens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why exactly do you find it depressing?
Because tuition is so expensive that so many need aid? Or not enough families are being helped, in your opinion?

I went to privates schools in Europe, and for a brief period, sent my kids to some before we came here to the DC area. In 2013, a good private international school in Paris was about 12K euros per year. Paris has a higher cost of living than DC.

Here the private schools cost 60K a year and there is no way I want to pay for acres of lawn, sports complexes, leather armchairs in the library, etc... when the actual teaching is on par with what my kids had in Paris at 12K euros a year. Granted, the campuses weren't luxurious at all. But at least the food was OK.

So here we're in good public schools. They need to bring lunch, because the school lunches are inedible. Otherwise the teaching is fine. The buildings are a notch down from what they had in their Parisian privates, but still OK.

It's really nice that parents on this board can afford to pay 60K a year for something that's not US undergrad. I wouldn't want to be on financial aid for private K-12, personally.

What was the student-teacher ratio in Paris? Public schools here have 2x-3x the crowding that private schools have. That's the #1 thing that makes public schools bad -- kids don't get classes and attention focused on their needs and readiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What other schools?

milton academy: nearly 60%
roxbury latin: 40%
philips andover: 45%
philips exeter: 50%

many could do better. but still, would like to see the DC schools step it up.

Milton’s endowment is half a billion dollars.

Also endowments at Andover and Exeter are each over $1B. This is just not a fair comparison haha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be interesting to know the size of the average award. I know a family making 300k and getting some financial aid. This makes me think private schools are not getting many low and middle income kids. I know that everyone on here believes they are middle class but it is simply not true

I think the Propublica form 990 shows the total financial aid, so divide that by number of kids on aid. It also shows the salary of headmaster and other top admins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GDS: 23.9%
Sidwell: 21%
Maret: 24%
NCS: 21%
STA: 29%

Rich kid schools are 3/4ths rich kids, someone call the Washington post

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GDS: 23.9%
Sidwell: 21%
Maret: 24%
NCS: 21%
STA: 29%

Now do average financial aid amounts..
Financial aid at these schools are worth millions of dollars. They are more generous with aid than colleges in the U.S.

Worthy applicants can benefit greatly if they can tolerate being token socioeconomic diversity.

Lol, 20% of students at Harvard pay no tuition. No private comes close to that

[Anonymous]

Every child has access to free public K-12, so complaining about not having enough financial aid at elite private schools, when you look at the actual numbers, is maybe a bit silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be interesting to know the size of the average award. I know a family making 300k and getting some financial aid. This makes me think private schools are not getting many low and middle income kids. I know that everyone on here believes they are middle class but it is simply not true

some people around here think $300K is middle class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would be interesting to know the size of the average award. I know a family making 300k and getting some financial aid. This makes me think private schools are not getting many low and middle income kids. I know that everyone on here believes they are middle class but it is simply not true

some people around here think $300K is middle class.

What else is it?