How much do you earn to afford private school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid goes to a Catholic HS. The tuition is around $17K per year and I get $6500 in FA and a scholarship. I make $75K per year as a public school teacher.

That’s a great deal!

My alma mater is closer to $28k and I doubt our $260k income would qualify for FA.

We switched preschools many years ago when the private school jacked up tuition. We didn’t qualify for FA and our HHI was only $150 at that time.

I went to a Catholic HS myself and graduated in 1993. My mom said “It’s a good thing you are graduating now because next year the tuition is going up to $6K!” That sounds like a bargain now.

[Anonymous]

If you make that much and can’t afford private you have bigger issues.

[Anonymous]

Our HHI is $540K before bonuses (though our industries typically do pay full bonuses...which boosts HHI to a total of $676K). We have one in lower school at an independent private that is in the $30-$40K range, and another we’ll send in a couple years. It’s not been a struggle with our current HHI though I do fret what might happen if one of us scaled back to a less lucrative career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you make that much and can’t afford private you have bigger issues.

How do you figure?

Like I said, my alma mater is $28k per year...for 1 student. I have a few kids, so it would be very costly to send them to private school K through 12 AND have money saved for college.

I see that some people are going private K-8 and then bailing and going public for high school. I get it: catholic grade school is relatively affordable, but high school isn't. I wouldn't want to tear my kid away from their friends and send them to public for high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make that much and can’t afford private you have bigger issues.

How do you figure?

Like I said, my alma mater is $28k per year...for 1 student. I have a few kids, so it would be very costly to send them to private school K through 12 AND have money saved for college.

I see that some people are going private K-8 and then bailing and going public for high school. I get it: catholic grade school is relatively affordable, but high school isn't. I wouldn't want to tear my kid away from their friends and send them to public for high school.

Bishop Ireton is appr. $17K. I think that is very affordable for this area. Parish K-8 schools tend to be around $7K for Catholic students. If public school teachers can afford it then a lot of you are doing something wrong.

[Anonymous]

We make $250k. We send our kids to a private school that costs $35k each. My in laws pay-- paying for education is their "thing". They have put their other grandkids, long-term housekeeper's kids, and office employees' kids though a variety of private schools and colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $540K before bonuses (though our industries typically do pay full bonuses...which boosts HHI to a total of $676K). We have one in lower school at an independent private that is in the $30-$40K range, and another we’ll send in a couple years. It’s not been a struggle with our current HHI though I do fret what might happen if one of us scaled back to a less lucrative career. [/quote

This has to be a toll. Unless you have unusually high expenses, the math doesn't add up.

[Anonymous]

We have HHI 300j

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $540K before bonuses (though our industries typically do pay full bonuses...which boosts HHI to a total of $676K). We have one in lower school at an independent private that is in the $30-$40K range, and another we’ll send in a couple years. It’s not been a struggle with our current HHI though I do fret what might happen if one of us scaled back to a less lucrative career. [/quote

This has to be a toll. Unless you have unusually high expenses, the math doesn't add up.

I was the OP on this thread, and not a troll. Yes. if we HAD to, we could afford private school for both (and I know others certainly do it on much less HHI), but if we lost $100-$150K of income because one of us scaled back, it would mean cutting back on other things like our aggressive retirement and 529 savings (we are not extravagant compared to colleagues or peers, but we would like to retire in our early 50s, and both are children are very young).

[Anonymous]

HHI 330. One kid in private $26.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to local privates K-12 (along with my siblings). My family wasn’t rich.

DH and I have a decent HHI ($260), but there’s no way we could afford private.

My high school alma mater is $28k! My grade school is just under $10k. (Both are Catholic privates in MoCo.)

I realize these are comparatively cheap privates in Dcumlandia, so I’m curious how much people earn in order to afford private for multiple kids.

Note: I’m not interested in pre-K numbers. We did private pre-K starting at age 2 until public K. I know it’s expensive, but it’s what people do.

I also know that many grandparents subsidize tuition (I know that’s the case in our neck of the woods).

Worry about affording college, then you can afford k-12. Don’t be one of those parents who sends their kid to private/parochial k-12 and then makes the kid take out loans!!

This is what my parents did. Pretty crappy of them, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make that much and can’t afford private you have bigger issues.

How do you figure?

Like I said, my alma mater is $28k per year...for 1 student. I have a few kids, so it would be very costly to send them to private school K through 12 AND have money saved for college.

I see that some people are going private K-8 and then bailing and going public for high school. I get it: catholic grade school is relatively affordable, but high school isn't. I wouldn't want to tear my kid away from their friends and send them to public for high school.

Bishop Ireton is appr. $17K. I think that is very affordable for this area. Parish K-8 schools tend to be around $7K for Catholic students. If public school teachers can afford it then a lot of you are doing something wrong.

I’m shocked by how cheap Ireton is. I noticed they have a Catholic and non-Catholic tuition rate; while that’s typical of K-8 parish schools (schools subsidized by the local church and archdiocese), that’s not the case for any catholic high school I’m familiar with in MoCo or DC.

We live in MoCo. I went to catholic school in MoCo, and I’m familiar with catholic schools in the dc metro area. Ireton was never on par with the others. For better or worse, there is a pecking order. And some schools have fallen from their glory days. Interestingly, SJCHS still has tuition in the mid-$20s despite its loss of popularity.

In any event, we can’t swing private. It’s been interesting to confirm my theory through this thread (singleton kids, super high earning parents, and help from grandparents). Bottom line: average people can’t swing private without help from the grandparents.

[Anonymous]

I'm an average person and I don't get help from my parent. I guess it's just a matter of prioritizing. Rent, food, utilities, transportation all come first but next is education. We live as cheaply as possible. I'm a public school teacher and a single parent. I rent a basement apartment in a safe neighborhood. The apartment is pretty nice since the house is very nice. We don't take vacations every year. Maybe once every 4-5 years. We visit family each summer. Anyway, it can be done. BTW- I've read that St. John's has become extremely popular. Read the private school forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you make that much and can’t afford private you have bigger issues.

How do you figure?

Like I said, my alma mater is $28k per year...for 1 student. I have a few kids, so it would be very costly to send them to private school K through 12 AND have money saved for college.

I see that some people are going private K-8 and then bailing and going public for high school. I get it: catholic grade school is relatively affordable, but high school isn't. I wouldn't want to tear my kid away from their friends and send them to public for high school.

Bishop Ireton is appr. $17K. I think that is very affordable for this area. Parish K-8 schools tend to be around $7K for Catholic students. If public school teachers can afford it then a lot of you are doing something wrong.

You are making a big assumption that people are comfortable sending their kuds to Catholic school. If you aren't, independent private schools are $30K+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We make $250k. We send our kids to a private school that costs $35k each. My in laws pay-- paying for education is their "thing". They have put their other grandkids, long-term housekeeper's kids, and office employees' kids though a variety of private schools and colleges.

That is really sweet of them