Sidwell tuition increase
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Anonymous
| So we started a few years ago at around 34k- and it's now going to be OVER 40k for next year. Keep this in mind folks as you make your decisions for next year. |
Anonymous
| Thanks for the info. This is a big reason of why we have avoided expensive privates. |
Anonymous
| Why shouldn't they? People are willing to pay and have the money. |
Anonymous
Surreal. |
Anonymous
| There is a direct relationship between teacher salaries and tuition at most schools. |
Anonymous
| I think its more b/c they bought 2 new properties in the past 2 years and need to pay the bills. |
Anonymous
Query, what was the average rate of increase before you started at the school, and why did you assume that the rate of increase would slow once you matriculated? I bet if you took out a calculator you could guess the tuition next year and the following. And if that number shocks you, you should get off the train at the next stop.o |
Anonymous
A little research would tell you otherwise. Thanks for playing, though. |
Anonymous
Not true. The more direct link is with number and salaries of administration staff. |
Anonymous
| The question is, then, if you think the the education your child receives is worth the price? |
Anonymous
| News flash....ALL the D.C. Area privates will be over 40k next year. gDS, Maret, the cathedral schools. |
Anonymous
That increase is very standard for the schools in this area and for private schools nationally. When you dig into the school finances, costs associated with personnel (and that includes salaries and healthcare, for example) are the lion's share of the costs. Big facilities are expensive but all you have to do is read the thread like the one on Holton where people were arguing that the gym was not the fancy enough to see why there is pressure to have up-to-date buildings and facilities. The only way to really keep school costs down would be to Teacher salaries and that would result in a raft of additional issues (since private school teachers already get lesser benefits than public school teachers for the most part, if salaries cease to be competitive they will have trouble retaining good teachers). Schools – – whether public or private – – or very expensive to run. |
Anonymous
All you have to do is look at a school budget – – or count the number of teachers and staff versus administrators – – to say that this is simply not accurate. An over-large/bloated administrative structure can be a sign that the school is not carefully watching expenses, but it is the overall mass of teachers and staff that make up most of the expenses for personnel. Remember that when you calculate costs for employees you need to add an additional 20% to the salary to account for payroll tax and benefits costs. Also, technology does not decrease personnel costs for schools as it does in other industries. In fact, technology has made the cost of private school education more expensive. In coal mining, automation means that one minor can do the work of 10 forty years ago. You could use computers to gather all the students in an auditorium and stream a lecture at them and have one English teacher teach the entire graduating class, with low-cost part time graders brought in, but that is not the education that people want or pay for. So teachers still have the same load of students, but schools have had to add a significant number of employees for information technology, and spend large amounts on technology hardware. There really are no easy answers. As long as you have small class sizes, and offer a relatively wide range of course offerings, private schools will be very expensive. Then add in the market demand for nice facilities – – classrooms, athletic facilities, theaters -- and the price tag goes up. Catholic education is an option for a more stripped down experience but even there they face significant pressures from rising costs. |
Anonymous
Does everyone pay rack rate? Or is it like college where rack rate is only paid by folks who can afford it and the difference between it and actual cost subsidizes other students? |
Anonymous
Top schools like Sidwell give a lot of financial aid. It might be something like 25% of the potential gross tuition. So yes, as with colleges, if a private school awarded no financial aid everybody's tuition could be somewhat lower. But financial aid is core to the mission of well-regarded American independent schools (as it is with American private colleges) -- and theoretically maybe to their status as non-profits, too (I don't know enough about tax policy to know if that's accurate but it's something that gets cited when municipalities want to tax colleges). |