Do schools treat you in any way differently if you are receiving financial aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FA is an exercise in cross subsidization. Not every child can be on FA. The model simply doesn't work unless full pay families subsidize the FA. From an economic viability perspective full pay families are more important to independent schools.

From a big picture standpoint, yes. But once a family has been given FA, as an individual, that child is no less (or more) important than any given full-pay (or at least full-pay non-VIP) child. The school does not treat students on FA differently than full-pay students.

This was our experience. We were on FA for seven years and have been off it for two years. Absolutely no difference on an individual level. I don’t think individual teachers know or care about how tuition is getting paid, whether it be via financial aid, earned income, or inherited wealth. That’s just not their focus.

Do you think your experience would be the same if things were reversed? Full pay for seven then FA for two?

Sure. I don’t think teachers and administrators care at all. They’re not enmeshed with the school’s finances or cash flow.

[Anonymous]

Schools don't really treat you differently, but cultures evolve around who is and who is not on aid. Like the annual auctions or donor events -- can you give and still be on aid? Should you? Or that very expensive unsubsidized senior trip or opportunity that requires extra? Should you? Tends to be in your head, but still real and can have an impact of how empowered one feels to participate fully in school life.

[Anonymous]

Taught for years at a top private. The only time it came up would be when we were checking if an FA kid in say, the choir, might need an extra subsidy to help them attend a trip to Europe with the rest of the kids. In these cases I’d work with the FA director to make sure she reached out to the families to let them know we all wanted them to come and they wouldn’t have to pay the full amount. Most teachers literally had no idea who the FA kids were.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools don't really treat you differently, but cultures evolve around who is and who is not on aid. Like the annual auctions or donor events -- can you give and still be on aid? Should you? Or that very expensive unsubsidized senior trip or opportunity that requires extra? Should you? Tends to be in your head, but still real and can have an impact of how empowered one feels to participate fully in school life.

I grew up an FA kid, I'm not sure I agree with this statement. FA helps you attend the school and ideally have money for your child to still participate in extracurriculars. Depending on amount of FA, giving to an annual fund or event in no way compares to the financial outlay of having to pay full tuition. Yes, an FA child may not be able to attend every school trip or expensive event just due to the reality of their family's finances, but saying one should question whether they should or should not attend these events is ridiculous. Knowing there is always a very expensive senior trip means a parent can save up small amounts over the four years to make that happen.

[Anonymous]

When I went to private school in the 80s my mother had a pile of papers with various kids names and family info. she was given as a volunteer to solicit funds from the other parents. Tuition was $10,000 a year back then. There was a line that indicated if kid was on financial aid and how much would be an appropriate ask. I thought this was very wrong and it’s probably not done these days.

[Anonymous]

Day-to-day treatment of your kid is no different...but if you as the parent want to complain about anything of significance, then you will absolutely be treated differently. Short answer...don't do it yourself. Find a big donor family that feels the same as you and hopefully they make the complaint.