Making $220K - any chance for FA at DC Privates?

[Anonymous]

Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I'm curious to know myself. We are one income and will have one in private this year. Our oldest is in public but struggling and we plan to move her to private for HS the next year. I will go back to work to help pay. My potential income isn't all that high but enough to push us over 200. Yet out of that income we will be adding the expense of childcare for our youngest. And we'll be in a higher tax bracket. DH has figured out we will probably only come out 10,000 ahead after all is said and done. He feels that the higher income will mean no FA. However some schools will only give FA with 2 parents working. Feel like we are stuck because we can't qualify without the job but we won't qualify with it. And both of the kids need private. It's not a preference. Public schools have been a poor fit and there are no charters.

How do you know both need private if your youngest is not yet school aged? Or by childcare do you mean after or before care?

[Anonymous]

Op here - thanks for all the comments and insights from all perspectives. It's interesting that some people immediately think one is entitled because one makes a certain amount of money. Far from it. My husband and I each owned our own homes before we got married. We lived in one initially and rented the other. We bought a house in NE DC a few years later together that cost $200k and was not habital. No functioning electric, plumbing etc. we bought it with a 203k renovation loan which allowed us to do $100k worth of renovations. Some may know that making a 3 bedroom 1 bath home liveable costs more than $100k when one needs everything (and I mean everything - hgtv has nothing on us). We've made some of what we hope are wise choices and have lived extremely frugally throughout. I still drive my very first car out of college which was 15 years old last year. My husbands car is 11 years old. Entitled we are not. Determined to continue to make wise choices we are. Hence my post asking if we'd qualify for any FA as our neighborhood schools aren't quite where we'd like them to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op here - thanks for all the comments and insight everyone. Yes life is about choices that is for sure. We feel (rightly or wrongly) that high school is the most important and so wanted to be sure we could afford private when that comes around. Of course we'll be saving for college as well. I just don't feel comfortable with our savings being so depleted while starting down this path. For folks who spend the vast majority of their income on private school can I ask how much you all have in emergency savings?

I spend 20% of net on private- make much less than 220- more like 160. Never asked for FA and similar to another PP, I gave (however small) to FA. I have no emergency savings. Paycheck to paycheck but I'm not a good saver, so that's not anyone's fault but my own.

[Anonymous]

*give

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op here - thanks for all the comments and insight everyone. Yes life is about choices that is for sure. We feel (rightly or wrongly) that high school is the most important and so wanted to be sure we could afford private when that comes around. Of course we'll be saving for college as well. I just don't feel comfortable with our savings being so depleted while starting down this path. For folks who spend the vast majority of their income on private school can I ask how much you all have in emergency savings?

This is not a valid argument for receiving FA. Why should other parents help cover your tuition so you can keep your emergency fund intact?

[Anonymous]

OP: I would be very surprised if you qualified. They will absolutely ask you to use the equity in your rental properties or sell them outright to pay tuition. It's not a question of if you can afford it; it's a question of what you need to do with your assets to make it happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: I would be very surprised if you qualified. They will absolutely ask you to use the equity in your rental properties or sell them outright to pay tuition. It's not a question of if you can afford it; it's a question of what you need to do with your assets to make it happen.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

For the same reason that same family cannot buy a Mercedes, vacation every year in the Caribbean, eat at fancy restaurants every weekend: Private school is a luxury. A choice, and a luxury. There are public alternatives for all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

For the same reason that same family cannot buy a Mercedes, vacation every year in the Caribbean, eat at fancy restaurants every weekend: Private school is a luxury. A choice, and a luxury. There are public alternatives for all.

Totally disagree. It is well known that small class sizes and relationships with teachers are the most critical factors impacting education. We are talking about children, some with needs that absolutely cannot be met in MCPS, DCPS, APS, or FCS. I do not consider private schools a luxury. For our child it is a life-changer. I am one of the PPs with a $150Kish HHI. We would not choose this "luxury" if we weren't convinced it's a necessity. Small class sizes SHOULD be available in public, but they're not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

For the same reason that same family cannot buy a Mercedes, vacation every year in the Caribbean, eat at fancy restaurants every weekend: Private school is a luxury. A choice, and a luxury. There are public alternatives for all.

So you've never lived in an area with terrible schools - very fortunate indeed. Never had to live somewhere you wouldn't otherwise live because your job demanded it (yes, that happens). We've had some horrible public school experiences and just because we're middle class doesn't mean my children shouldn't be afforded the privilege of a fine education for not suffering "enough" in that they are not disadvantaged in a socio-economic sense. But no, we cannot afford $40,000 a year, we can only afford $20,000. Where is the shame in paying what you can relative to your income? I don't get the logic. If you equate private education with a Mercedes, I don't think your children have attended a variety of schools. My kids have attended several of both public and private depending on where we were. Not all of public schools are Fairfax fabulous.

[Anonymous]

[youtube]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

For the same reason that same family cannot buy a Mercedes, vacation every year in the Caribbean, eat at fancy restaurants every weekend: Private school is a luxury. A choice, and a luxury. There are public alternatives for all.

So you've never lived in an area with terrible schools - very fortunate indeed. Never had to live somewhere you wouldn't otherwise live because your job demanded it (yes, that happens). We've had some horrible public school experiences and just because we're middle class doesn't mean my children shouldn't be afforded the privilege of a fine education for not suffering "enough" in that they are not disadvantaged in a socio-economic sense. But no, we cannot afford $40,000 a year, we can only afford $20,000. Where is the shame in paying what you can relative to your income? I don't get the logic. If you equate private education with a Mercedes, I don't think your children have attended a variety of schools. My kids have attended several of both public and private depending on where we were. Not all of public schools are Fairfax fabulous.

FA to a private school is a privilege not a right, and it is a scarce commodity. The schools do not have to share who get how much or why. It's at their discretion and even full-pay parents like me (whose annual fund gifts subsidize FA) have to trust the school to make reasonable choices about who gets aid and who does not. It's worth applying to see if you make the cut. But few things roil the masses on this forum more than people with assets like OP's looking for FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

For the same reason that same family cannot buy a Mercedes, vacation every year in the Caribbean, eat at fancy restaurants every weekend: Private school is a luxury. A choice, and a luxury. There are public alternatives for all.

Totally disagree. It is well known that small class sizes and relationships with teachers are the most critical factors impacting education. We are talking about children, some with needs that absolutely cannot be met in MCPS, DCPS, APS, or FCS. I do not consider private schools a luxury. For our child it is a life-changer. I am one of the PPs with a $150Kish HHI. We would not choose this "luxury" if we weren't convinced it's a necessity. Small class sizes SHOULD be available in public, but they're not.

By this measure, all students attending mediocre public schools are entitled to a Sidwell education, as a matter of "rights."

It doesn't work that way. Private education is a luxury, a privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

For the same reason that same family cannot buy a Mercedes, vacation every year in the Caribbean, eat at fancy restaurants every weekend: Private school is a luxury. A choice, and a luxury. There are public alternatives for all.

Totally disagree. It is well known that small class sizes and relationships with teachers are the most critical factors impacting education. We are talking about children, some with needs that absolutely cannot be met in MCPS, DCPS, APS, or FCS. I do not consider private schools a luxury. For our child it is a life-changer. I am one of the PPs with a $150Kish HHI. We would not choose this "luxury" if we weren't convinced it's a necessity. Small class sizes SHOULD be available in public, but they're not.

That's throwing a straw man argument. Unless OP has a kid with a diagnosed special need that requires small class size to access the curriculum, no one is entitled to small class size and/or tuition/FA at a private school. Even public schools will only pay tuition of students at Special Need private schools and these are hard to get and usually requires a law suit. Attending Sidwell/Lowell/CHDS/etc is a luxury, if you can't afford it or don't want to spend money for it but instead want to spend it on renovating your rental properties, you shouldn't expect other people to subsidize the tuition by awarding you FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the rental properties a business? No school expects you to sell your business.

Apply if you feel you can't do full pay. You might only get $500, but they only expect you to pay what you can afford based off a ton of information you give them. Chances are whatever they offer will be fair.

FA is not just for disadvantaged kids, it's to offset the huge cost of private education for anyone who can't afford full pay. Why should a middle class family of four making $120,000 in DC be expected to handle $70,000 in tuition or not have the opportunity to attend?

For the same reason that same family cannot buy a Mercedes, vacation every year in the Caribbean, eat at fancy restaurants every weekend: Private school is a luxury. A choice, and a luxury. There are public alternatives for all.

Totally disagree. It is well known that small class sizes and relationships with teachers are the most critical factors impacting education. We are talking about children, some with needs that absolutely cannot be met in MCPS, DCPS, APS, or FCS. I do not consider private schools a luxury. For our child it is a life-changer. I am one of the PPs with a $150Kish HHI. We would not choose this "luxury" if we weren't convinced it's a necessity. Small class sizes SHOULD be available in public, but they're not.

But they are in fact a luxury. If they were not, all children whose needs are not well-served by public schools would - could, in fact - attend. We know this is not the case. Why? Because it is a privilege, a luxury.

Totally understandable that you choose this luxury. But that does not change the fact that it is a luxury.