Private School Possible with Household Income <$80K

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I’m calling BS on not being able to earn the tuition of private school. Bank of America bank tellers start at $25/hour. That’s $52k per year. If you’re qualified enough to homeschool your kid, you’re qualified enough to be a bank teller. Costco workers make average of $55k.

Most jobs don't pay that much and you also forget they take out taxes, social security, other things, so at best, you'd bring home $30K (depending on what taxes you pay), then take out things like health insurance, and child care and there is nothing left. Remember people need before/after school and summer child care. Sadly, it often doesn't pay to work. And, you pay taxes on your spouses income level, not yours.

You really live in an alternative world if you think you can pay full private school tuition on that income.

Nobody is saying you can pay full private tuition. That is why public schools exist. People are saying you aren't sympathetic enough an applicant to get much FA. With an elementary age child, why can't you get at least a part-time job? People make sacrifices to afford private school all the time.

I have yet to see DCUM deem anyone "sympathetic" enough for FA, which really hurts this argument of where people should draw the line.

I agree that PP should get a job or just apply and see.

But if everyone is heckled, it seems that more people are going to think they are deserving and maybe those more "deserving" will be scared off from even trying.

I don't need a job now. I also have health issues which makes it hard. And, we have the income to pay for it now. The discussion is about people making under $80K. You know, the amount you regularly spend on a car. These folks aren't living in million dollar houses, taking multiple vacations a year and some are on government assistance. You really have no clue what it would be like to live off $80K and working part time making $20K makes zero sense if there are child care and other issues.

Its appalling schools give out aid to those making $200-250 but not to $80K. Those with $200-250K can reduce their housing and other expenses. Those making $80K cannot not.

I'm confused, or perhaps you're confused. Schools do give out FA to people making $80K, and nobody is saying otherwise. Some schools give most of their aid to the lowest-income families, others spread it higher up the income spectrum and give less to each. But most schools will impute at least some income to a SAHM of one school-aged child unless they have a specific reason not to.

Yes. OP, you are focusing on the 80K and not the imputing an income for SAHM. You are asking others to subsidize that choice for you. What if you landed a 90K job? They can’t assume you would not land a well-paying job.

[Anonymous]

Bottom line is - in the absence of a compelling reason why one parent does not earn an income such as a health issue, caretaker for another family member - schools will impute an income to the non-working parent. Then they will offer FA as they deem appropriate. Then the family decides if they can afford the school at that level of tuition minus FA.

Yes, there is no real diversity regardless of the marketing. Yes, families who don’t truly need FA get it anyway. That’s real life.

[Anonymous]

Also, OP, remember-- you asked about a high school student. Who can fend for themselves after school, potentially take public transportation home or Lyft and be alone at home as needed. And a high school student is capable of earning a little bit of money too, in the summer at least. If you had asked about a Kindergartener that would be different.

Could it be that you don't understand the imputed income calculation? The schools are going to decide that you could earn $X per year, and then treat you like you have a family income of $80,000+X rather than just $80,000. That doesn't mean they're going to take your entire paycheck, but they're going to treat you like you're earning as much money as they think you could. If you can persuade them that you literally can't earn any money at all, then they won't impute anything. But that's an uphill climb.

[Anonymous]

Is your husband able to make more than $80K? That is a pretty low salary. Can he job search or take a second job?

I'm a nurse and make $95K so I know your salary band well. However, I'm the second income. I've stayed at my job (none supervisory) for a long time because flexibility is worth more to me than pay. However, if I was the breadwinner, there are many jobs I could take that would pay more. I could also take a second/weekend job.

Is your husband in any position to make more? There are very few (any?) professions that max out at $80K. Even social work or teaching can make more (supervisory roles in the case of SW, principal/tutoring/etc in the case of the teacher (or working for the private school your kid attends and getting tuition remission).

I just find it really hard to believe that a man old enough to have a high- school aged kid (so mid career) can't find a position making more than $80K in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello, everyone. Thank you for all of your insights and opinions. OP here ...

I can imagine there are several scenarios where households may be 2-parent, 1-income like ours. I see there was some speculation that in all cases this would be a parent "staying-at-home" or just not working (a choice I also made while my kids were little as a low-income earner who found childcare unaffordable and a poorer substitute given our particulars). That's one possibility. But others include: care of a child with illness/special needs, dependent adult, out-of-work parent, sick parent, parent who works outside the home without receiving an income (volunteer/intern), and likely others. In our case, we our longtime, pre-pandemic homeschoolers ... so I've been working years without getting paid

As I mentioned previously, I've never made an income (in my previous non-profit / education roles) as much as many of these private high school tuitions. So, I was mainly wondering how others made it work. If it's realistic even with aid. What the imputed wage of a non-working parent might be. Thanks to all of you who provided some useful insider knowledge there.

Others suggested Catholic schools as a less-expensive alternative. We are considering those as well, though we are not Catholic. From reading other threads, it seems that could limit admission / aid in some cases.

Best wishes to everyone searching out the right path for their kiddos next year! If anyone has more helpful information / experiences to offer, we would love to benefit from your words of wisdom.

Thank you!

No. I have never seen a SAH parent be exempt for "volunteering" or having an internship.
Homeschooling is optional. You chose it for your child. Staying home to provide an optional alternative education for your child, who doesn't seem to have special needs that would warrant this, is not sufficient reason to forego an income.
I have colleagues who are full-time adjunct professors and earn $25K/year. I know of preschool teachers who earn $35K/year. Having a low-paying career is not a valid excuse to stop working to earn an income.

This. If you chose a low income field and chose to homeschool due to personal choice, they won't have much sympathy. We all make choices and you could choose to get a job.

You realize that kind of income are for professionals with masters degrees doing the jobs we as a society need done - teachers, social workers, fire fighters, nurses, police, etc. By the time you take out child care, even making $40-60K doesn't pay. For me, day care was $2200 for one child. So, by the time I paid day care, taxes, union dues and all the extras, I'd end up owing. Plus, health issues made it hard to work. And, caring for a SN child, then later another family member with dementia. I couldn't afford a nanny to take my child to services and an aid to handle an abusive family member.

If you have real SN reasons to homeschool that's one thing. If you're doing it because you want to, I don't think anyone would find that compelling. The number of people who can't afford private school because they've spent time and money caring for family is vast. They can't all get admitted with FA.

It's unclear to me why you don't have a job now.

I don't have a job now because my spouse's income has slowly gone up to the point where we are comfortable and we live very modestly so its a non-issue. And, if you actually read the post, I now have some pretty significant health issues. But, you really think my going back to work, starting at the bottom, making $40K a year (with 35%+extra) will really make a difference. By the time its all done, if I net $20K. Then, pick up/drop off and other things would be an issue and if we paid someone to do it, we'd spend more on child care/driver than I'd bring home.

I wouldn't homeschool and right now my kids are in virtual. We do private school summer school as I'm no longer able to tutor my kids. We looked into privates, could possibly full pay as we are close to having our house paid off but are hesitant because of our kids exposed to people like you whose look down on us for where we live, how much our house is worth/size, etc.

If anything families who earn $80K or under, far more deserve the financial aid. Its appalling to hear schools scream about diversity when that only means skin color and they are giving high income families who are living above their means the financial aid instead. Many people earn that and have masters and doing important jobs, including teaching your kids. You want all to quit, to earn more money. Then who will teach your kids?

I was sympathetic until I read your posts saying you don’t need a job…. You DO if you want something you are currently unable to afford (private school tuition). FA is nice, but will only get you so far. And they expect to see skin in the game (you trying).

[Anonymous]

OP why do you say you don’t need a job when you clearly need one? You should get a job to pay for private school.
My income barely covers my kids (3) tuitions at an expensive private. There is nothing left on top of that and often DH has to add 5-10k out of his pay check. ALL my money goes to private tuition. I also chose a flexible enough job where I can usually take a few hours off here and there e be the primary parent for my kids.

I can also live well on my husband’s salary… I also don’t need a job to feed my kids. However, I NEED a job if I want my kids in private school.

[Anonymous]

Do you mean you make enough money to cover your expenses now, but not enough for a private high school? Sorry but you should be trying to save at least a little bit in a 529 if private high school is a goal.

The world is full of people who don't earn that much, and full of people with health problems. And it's full of people who work despite their health problems, and people who work even though their take-home after expenses is very little. Any school is going to have plenty of applicants with strong rationales for FA and it can't afford to give FA to all of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello, everyone. Thank you for all of your insights and opinions. OP here ...

I can imagine there are several scenarios where households may be 2-parent, 1-income like ours. I see there was some speculation that in all cases this would be a parent "staying-at-home" or just not working (a choice I also made while my kids were little as a low-income earner who found childcare unaffordable and a poorer substitute given our particulars). That's one possibility. But others include: care of a child with illness/special needs, dependent adult, out-of-work parent, sick parent, parent who works outside the home without receiving an income (volunteer/intern), and likely others. In our case, we our longtime, pre-pandemic homeschoolers ... so I've been working years without getting paid

As I mentioned previously, I've never made an income (in my previous non-profit / education roles) as much as many of these private high school tuitions. So, I was mainly wondering how others made it work. If it's realistic even with aid. What the imputed wage of a non-working parent might be. Thanks to all of you who provided some useful insider knowledge there.

Others suggested Catholic schools as a less-expensive alternative. We are considering those as well, though we are not Catholic. From reading other threads, it seems that could limit admission / aid in some cases.

Best wishes to everyone searching out the right path for their kiddos next year! If anyone has more helpful information / experiences to offer, we would love to benefit from your words of wisdom.

Thank you!

No. I have never seen a SAH parent be exempt for "volunteering" or having an internship.
Homeschooling is optional. You chose it for your child. Staying home to provide an optional alternative education for your child, who doesn't seem to have special needs that would warrant this, is not sufficient reason to forego an income.
I have colleagues who are full-time adjunct professors and earn $25K/year. I know of preschool teachers who earn $35K/year. Having a low-paying career is not a valid excuse to stop working to earn an income.

This. If you chose a low income field and chose to homeschool due to personal choice, they won't have much sympathy. We all make choices and you could choose to get a job.

You realize that kind of income are for professionals with masters degrees doing the jobs we as a society need done - teachers, social workers, fire fighters, nurses, police, etc. By the time you take out child care, even making $40-60K doesn't pay. For me, day care was $2200 for one child. So, by the time I paid day care, taxes, union dues and all the extras, I'd end up owing. Plus, health issues made it hard to work. And, caring for a SN child, then later another family member with dementia. I couldn't afford a nanny to take my child to services and an aid to handle an abusive family member.

If you have real SN reasons to homeschool that's one thing. If you're doing it because you want to, I don't think anyone would find that compelling. The number of people who can't afford private school because they've spent time and money caring for family is vast. They can't all get admitted with FA.

It's unclear to me why you don't have a job now.

I don't have a job now because my spouse's income has slowly gone up to the point where we are comfortable and we live very modestly so its a non-issue. And, if you actually read the post, I now have some pretty significant health issues. But, you really think my going back to work, starting at the bottom, making $40K a year (with 35%+extra) will really make a difference. By the time its all done, if I net $20K. Then, pick up/drop off and other things would be an issue and if we paid someone to do it, we'd spend more on child care/driver than I'd bring home.

I wouldn't homeschool and right now my kids are in virtual. We do private school summer school as I'm no longer able to tutor my kids. We looked into privates, could possibly full pay as we are close to having our house paid off but are hesitant because of our kids exposed to people like you whose look down on us for where we live, how much our house is worth/size, etc.

If anything families who earn $80K or under, far more deserve the financial aid. Its appalling to hear schools scream about diversity when that only means skin color and they are giving high income families who are living above their means the financial aid instead. Many people earn that and have masters and doing important jobs, including teaching your kids. You want all to quit, to earn more money. Then who will teach your kids?

I was sympathetic until I read your posts saying you don’t need a job…. You DO if you want something you are currently unable to afford (private school tuition). FA is nice, but will only get you so far. And they expect to see skin in the game (you trying).

I am not the one applying for private school. But the point is there are many who have many reasons to only have one parent working.

These schools are a joke in terms of diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, OP, remember-- you asked about a high school student. Who can fend for themselves after school, potentially take public transportation home or Lyft and be alone at home as needed. And a high school student is capable of earning a little bit of money too, in the summer at least. If you had asked about a Kindergartener that would be different.

Could it be that you don't understand the imputed income calculation? The schools are going to decide that you could earn $X per year, and then treat you like you have a family income of $80,000+X rather than just $80,000. That doesn't mean they're going to take your entire paycheck, but they're going to treat you like you're earning as much money as they think you could. If you can persuade them that you literally can't earn any money at all, then they won't impute anything. But that's an uphill climb.

You realize how much lyft costs? People making under $80K are not using it. You are really out of touch.

OP, go ahead and apply and see what happens. But, even if you get in, these are the kind of families your child is socializing with and is that really a good thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also just think: how is your kid going to feel when Larlo jets off to an African Safari during Spring break? Lesser than. While I agree private schools are (generally) better for academics and behavior - and certainly prepare a child for a corporate life these Tony schools also give an average kid a major inferiority complex. I would keep researching - there are some really good cheaper private schools that give the bang without the ‘tude. (Religious)

Also poster is correct. We had to look at private for a special need and they only took off 7,000. (I made close to double what you make with stay at home spouse). They want that spouse working.

This isn’t as big of a deal as one might think. Many many many families are super down to earth and DC has definitely found their core group of friends who have similar vacations. One of the more wealthy families is the most down to earth (yeah I looked up their $5M house and know that dad is worth about $60M) but they do normal vacations, fly commercial, drive normal cars, etc. Some families do a lot of international travel, etc but I’ve found that the people displaying the most luxurious lifestyle aren’t actually as wealthy and DC doesn’t really roll with those kids anyway.

You are seriously comparing a family earning $80K to a family with $65 million and living in a $5milllion dollar house and pretending they are down to earth? Be real. Families with $80K aren't living in 5 million dollar hassles and doing international travel. They are lucky they aren't on food stamps and subsidized housing. Saying schools want diversity is a joke.

I am the PP. I earn $75K. DC’s bff is in the family that has the $65M net worth. The family is amazing - super down to earth, really nice and chill kids, they drive regular cars, have a vacation home in Bethany and the majority of their vacations are normal and tangible across socioeconomic levels. Sure they have a $5M house, and while it’s nice, it’s not pretentious. We have never ever felt unwelcomed, uncomfortable, or like we were out of place when hanging out with this family. They shop at normal stores and the mom and I talk bargain shopping all of the time. No, she doesn’t use coupons at the supermarket like I do, but she circles the deals in the weekly circular and uses her gas points just like a bunch of other people.

Meanwhile the families that are worth maybe $400K act like they are going to inherit the Taj Mahal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, OP, remember-- you asked about a high school student. Who can fend for themselves after school, potentially take public transportation home or Lyft and be alone at home as needed. And a high school student is capable of earning a little bit of money too, in the summer at least. If you had asked about a Kindergartener that would be different.

Could it be that you don't understand the imputed income calculation? The schools are going to decide that you could earn $X per year, and then treat you like you have a family income of $80,000+X rather than just $80,000. That doesn't mean they're going to take your entire paycheck, but they're going to treat you like you're earning as much money as they think you could. If you can persuade them that you literally can't earn any money at all, then they won't impute anything. But that's an uphill climb.

You realize how much lyft costs? People making under $80K are not using it. You are really out of touch.

OP, go ahead and apply and see what happens. But, even if you get in, these are the kind of families your child is socializing with and is that really a good thing?

Oh please. I live right by Dunbar and see that kids do use it. Lots of low income people do if it enables them to get to a job.

[Anonymous]

Why cannot you just go to public school ????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also just think: how is your kid going to feel when Larlo jets off to an African Safari during Spring break? Lesser than. While I agree private schools are (generally) better for academics and behavior - and certainly prepare a child for a corporate life these Tony schools also give an average kid a major inferiority complex. I would keep researching - there are some really good cheaper private schools that give the bang without the ‘tude. (Religious)

Also poster is correct. We had to look at private for a special need and they only took off 7,000. (I made close to double what you make with stay at home spouse). They want that spouse working.

This isn’t as big of a deal as one might think. Many many many families are super down to earth and DC has definitely found their core group of friends who have similar vacations. One of the more wealthy families is the most down to earth (yeah I looked up their $5M house and know that dad is worth about $60M) but they do normal vacations, fly commercial, drive normal cars, etc. Some families do a lot of international travel, etc but I’ve found that the people displaying the most luxurious lifestyle aren’t actually as wealthy and DC doesn’t really roll with those kids anyway.

You are seriously comparing a family earning $80K to a family with $65 million and living in a $5milllion dollar house and pretending they are down to earth? Be real. Families with $80K aren't living in 5 million dollar hassles and doing international travel. They are lucky they aren't on food stamps and subsidized housing. Saying schools want diversity is a joke.

I am the PP. I earn $75K. DC’s bff is in the family that has the $65M net worth. The family is amazing - super down to earth, really nice and chill kids, they drive regular cars, have a vacation home in Bethany and the majority of their vacations are normal and tangible across socioeconomic levels. Sure they have a $5M house, and while it’s nice, it’s not pretentious. We have never ever felt unwelcomed, uncomfortable, or like we were out of place when hanging out with this family. They shop at normal stores and the mom and I talk bargain shopping all of the time. No, she doesn’t use coupons at the supermarket like I do, but she circles the deals in the weekly circular and uses her gas points just like a bunch of other people.

Meanwhile the families that are worth maybe $400K act like they are going to inherit the Taj Mahal.

Be real. They own multiple homes, and more from what you are writing. And, even a Honda can cost $60K+ so saying they drive regular cars means nothing. They aren't spending or shopping like you and she probably downplays a lot around you.

And, you earning $75, with a spouse is different than an HHI of that same income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why cannot you just go to public school ????

What ever happened to diversity, inclusion and equity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, OP, remember-- you asked about a high school student. Who can fend for themselves after school, potentially take public transportation home or Lyft and be alone at home as needed. And a high school student is capable of earning a little bit of money too, in the summer at least. If you had asked about a Kindergartener that would be different.

Could it be that you don't understand the imputed income calculation? The schools are going to decide that you could earn $X per year, and then treat you like you have a family income of $80,000+X rather than just $80,000. That doesn't mean they're going to take your entire paycheck, but they're going to treat you like you're earning as much money as they think you could. If you can persuade them that you literally can't earn any money at all, then they won't impute anything. But that's an uphill climb.

You realize how much lyft costs? People making under $80K are not using it. You are really out of touch.

OP, go ahead and apply and see what happens. But, even if you get in, these are the kind of families your child is socializing with and is that really a good thing?

Oh please. I live right by Dunbar and see that kids do use it. Lots of low income people do if it enables them to get to a job.

Be real. No, they don't. If you are only earning $100-150 a day, you aren't spending $20 on transportation. Look, its great you live in a million or more dollar house, your housekeeper cleans it, your nanny cares for your kids and your gardner does the rest but that's not how most people like.