What percentage do you pay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most families are full pay and everyone should try to be full pay. The financial aid families are getting their bills paid by the rest of the families there who are covering the school’s budget.

I would not send my kids to private school unless I was full pay. I know some people are okay with financial aid, but this doesn’t operate like colleges. The schools all have limited budgets, small sized programs, and the money really does come from your peers. As an adult you should feel responsible for your own kids.

Your school chooses to give FA. You don’t like it. Oh well.

It is a form of charity. It irks us when people hide assets or take cushy low effort jobs so they can qualify for financial aid and get a discount. It isn’t a discount. It is charity, plain and simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most families are full pay and everyone should try to be full pay. The financial aid families are getting their bills paid by the rest of the families there who are covering the school’s budget.

I would not send my kids to private school unless I was full pay. I know some people are okay with financial aid, but this doesn’t operate like colleges. The schools all have limited budgets, small sized programs, and the money really does come from your peers. As an adult you should feel responsible for your own kids.

Your school chooses to give FA. You don’t like it. Oh well.

It is a form of charity. It irks us when people hide assets or take cushy low effort jobs so they can qualify for financial aid and get a discount. It isn’t a discount. It is charity, plain and simple.

I can see the tiny wisps of steam coming out of your ears.

Tell me, are any of your kid’s friends on FA? Are they allowed in your house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I promise I'm not trying to blow up this forum, but I'm curious. Are most of you paying full price for your private school? We keep thinking about making the switch, but we can't afford the standard DC area tuition without a huge sacrifice of some kind. Are most people paying that sticker price, or are most paying 25 -50% off that with the help of financial aid? This forum may skew towards the full-pay families, but this is just an informal poll. Thanks!

Child graduated (we only have one), but we paid about 16% of our gross toward tuition (full pay), but our home was paid off years ago. We felt it, but not too bad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We paid full freight K-12 for our only child and you’re correct— we made 13 years of certain sacrifices. Not retirement, etc but home renovations, new Audi SUVs, updated wardrobes every year …. (am listing the representative things my CCDC neighbors buy that we had to skip)

Would do the same thing again. Kid got a much better education at 2 DC independents than my friends’ kids in MoCo and NWDC.

OP said huge sacrifice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We paid full freight K-12 for our only child and you’re correct— we made 13 years of certain sacrifices. Not retirement, etc but home renovations, new Audi SUVs, updated wardrobes every year …. (am listing the representative things my CCDC neighbors buy that we had to skip)

Would do the same thing again. Kid got a much better education at 2 DC independents than my friends’ kids in MoCo and NWDC.

If you are in CCDC you are plenty wealthy and not making any real sacrifices. Be real.

Which is why I intentionally chose the words “certain sacrifices.” Sacrificing a better house is still a sacrifice. You don’t need to be destitute and homeless to term a financial decision a “sacrifice.”

[Anonymous]

Tuition has ebbed and flowed over the years, as has our salaries. We have always been full pay. Typically, we paid 15 to 20% of our income for private high schools (3 DC). We saved a lot pre-kids and one parent was former military so retirement savings was not a big concern. Grandparents funded 1/3 of college savings with a 1x gift at birth for each DC. We skipped on country club, second home, yearly, European vacations x2 and it was worth it IMO.

[Anonymous]

Our school says about 1/4 of the kids get financial aid with the average being $40k. I suspect that there are a number of full tuition grants then many people getting $10-20k off.

[Anonymous]

We are not a HNW family. We pay full tuition for our child at a top, expensive private. The school does give FA to 1 in 5 kids (I believe that includes the discount offered to children of faculty).

[Anonymous]

OP is not asking what percent of your income you’re paying… she’s asking what percentage of tuition you pay.

[Anonymous]

I pay about 1/3 of the listed tuition thanks to very generous financial aid. I work for a nonprofit and my spouse died in 2021, so single income family. But the school feels my child adds something to their community and has worked to make tuition, although still a good chunk of my income, affordable as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I pay about 1/3 of the listed tuition thanks to very generous financial aid. I work for a nonprofit and my spouse died in 2021, so single income family. But the school feels my child adds something to their community and has worked to make tuition, although still a good chunk of my income, affordable as a result.

As a parent new to this world (my child is transitioning from public PK-8 to a private high school next year) - curious if/how people distinguish between needs based financial aid and merit based/scholarship aid.

[Anonymous]

Full pay, 45k tuition, one child , HHI 400k. It would not be doable with two kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most families are full pay and everyone should try to be full pay. The financial aid families are getting their bills paid by the rest of the families there who are covering the school’s budget.

I would not send my kids to private school unless I was full pay. I know some people are okay with financial aid, but this doesn’t operate like colleges. The schools all have limited budgets, small sized programs, and the money really does come from your peers. As an adult you should feel responsible for your own kids.

Your school chooses to give FA. You don’t like it. Oh well.

We are full pay for two kids but I’m very happy our school gives generous (not 100%) financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most families are full pay and everyone should try to be full pay. The financial aid families are getting their bills paid by the rest of the families there who are covering the school’s budget.

I would not send my kids to private school unless I was full pay. I know some people are okay with financial aid, but this doesn’t operate like colleges. The schools all have limited budgets, small sized programs, and the money really does come from your peers. As an adult you should feel responsible for your own kids.

Your school chooses to give FA. You don’t like it. Oh well.

We are full pay for two kids but I’m very happy our school gives generous (not 100%) financial aid.

A fool and their money are easily parted. You are being conned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I pay about 1/3 of the listed tuition thanks to very generous financial aid. I work for a nonprofit and my spouse died in 2021, so single income family. But the school feels my child adds something to their community and has worked to make tuition, although still a good chunk of my income, affordable as a result.

Precisely this. Even with aid, most FA families are still sacrificing a bunch. It’s sort of designed that way.