Sidwell tuition increase

[Anonymous]

It's that time of year and we just received the email saying that Sidwell will increase its tuition 3.75%. They note that this is the same as last year. I assuming this is self congratulatory.

I am so sick of this crap. Whose salary is increasing at the same rate yearly? Besides the corporate lawyers and bankers? Or those who've inherited wealth? Keep squeezing the middle class and you will lose them or find more disgruntled families who can't or won't contribute in other ways.

This has been discussed in the past, so before some of you lecture me with the "honey if you can't afford it..." bs, don't waste your time. I'm encouraging others to contact the school but won't read or respond to unhelpful comments here.

Bryan Garman and the board have been a big disappointment.

[Anonymous]

That is a hike and I'm sorry to hear it. The school has a high enough tuition already. When we had our son in a different private we found the increases each year really cut into our budget and ultimately went public.

[Anonymous]

woah.
With that rate of increase, in 5 years it will be $49.5K.
$50K with fees.

[Anonymous]

This is why it’s dumb to send your child to private unless money is no object. If a 3.75 percent increase actually affects you then you have no business sending your child to private as it means you’re spending a significant portion of your after tax wages on tuition, which is even worse considering your taxes pay for local public schools. Not to mention it’s highly debatable that private schools even make a difference as study after study show it’s mainly your family uppbringing and if your parents value education.

[Anonymous]

If you're truly "middle class" you shouldn't be attending this school in the firs place.

Face it. Private school is for rich people, period. Don't believe anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why it’s dumb to send your child to private unless money is no object. If a 3.75 percent increase actually affects you then you have no business sending your child to private as it means you’re spending a significant portion of your after tax wages on tuition, which is even worse considering your taxes pay for local public schools. Not to mention it’s highly debatable that private schools even make a difference as study after study show it’s mainly your family uppbringing and if your parents value education.

Oh shut up. People can complain. It is their money. Do what you want with yours.

[Anonymous]

40,840 currently
42,371 2017-2018
43,959 2018-2019
45,607 2019-2020
47,317 2020-2021
49,091 2021-2022

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're truly "middle class" you shouldn't be attending this school in the firs place.

Face it. Private school is for rich people, period. Don't believe anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why it’s dumb to send your child to private unless money is no object. If a 3.75 percent increase actually affects you then you have no business sending your child to private as it means you’re spending a significant portion of your after tax wages on tuition, which is even worse considering your taxes pay for local public schools. Not to mention it’s highly debatable that private schools even make a difference as study after study show it’s mainly your family uppbringing and if your parents value education.

Or I can look at it this way. My kid attends Sidwell and I only pay 7k/year. The rest is covered by FA. Therefore, 3.75% of 7k is about $262.00. Still money but doable. Now $1537.00 on top full pay, that's another story.

[Anonymous]

A good rule of thumb for private school is that you can afford it if you can save an amount in private brokerages equal to what you pay in tuition. If you’re sending one child to sidwell you should be able to contribute at least 45k a year to savings/investments outside of retirement. If not, you can’t afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:40,840 currently
42,371 2017-2018
43,959 2018-2019
45,607 2019-2020
47,317 2020-2021
49,091 2021-2022

I thought people who work for World Bank or IMF only pay 50% of the tuition, right? The rest is paid by World Bank or IMF.

[Anonymous]

when my first kid started at Sidwell, the tuition was $13k. She has been out of college for a couple of years. But siblings are still there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:40,840 currently
42,371 2017-2018
43,959 2018-2019
45,607 2019-2020
47,317 2020-2021
49,091 2021-2022

I thought people who work for World Bank or IMF only pay 50% of the tuition, right? The rest is paid by World Bank or IMF.

There aren’t that many world bank families there. OP didn’t indicate she worked for the Bank.

Private school tuitions increase every year. Same with colleges. When my kids were younger, pre financial crisis, the increased were in the 6-7% range. That’s why they are congratulating themselves for a rate half of that.

All the things you like about private school cost money (small classes, specials, fancy buildings, turf fields, art centers, etc). The cost of maintaining those things increases each year. It’s easy to say they should cut but if they start to make changes to class size etc then what’s the difference from a good public school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why it’s dumb to send your child to private unless money is no object. If a 3.75 percent increase actually affects you then you have no business sending your child to private as it means you’re spending a significant portion of your after tax wages on tuition, which is even worse considering your taxes pay for local public schools. Not to mention it’s highly debatable that private schools even make a difference as study after study show it’s mainly your family uppbringing and if your parents value education.

Or I can look at it this way. My kid attends Sidwell and I only pay 7k/year. The rest is covered by FA. Therefore, 3.75% of 7k is about $262.00. Still money but doable. Now $1537.00 on top full pay, that's another story.

Good point. only 2/3s of the stickprice tuition goes towards your or any actual kid. Lots of subsidizing others going on and tuition transfers!

Second point, Sidwell Friends is really pushing the envelope on charging over $40k for ALL grade levels, including PK, K, 1, 2, etc. Unlike most other privates in the area and coasts and boarding schools which charge less for lower schools.

Think hard about how this aggressive pricing and price increases syncs with their Quaker Values, and lack thereof. For us it leaves a bad taste in our mouth. We find out in March if our kid 2 gets in as well, but I know a different K-12 school in Virginia that has a fantastic board, communication, and works with families on all sorts of budget, curriculum, catering, transpo issues.

Finally, I don't like doing business with companies that act like this (and I don't), not sure if I want my kids sculpted by a school that does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:40,840 currently
42,371 2017-2018
43,959 2018-2019
45,607 2019-2020
47,317 2020-2021
49,091 2021-2022

I thought people who work for World Bank or IMF only pay 50% of the tuition, right? The rest is paid by World Bank or IMF.

There aren’t that many world bank families there. OP didn’t indicate she worked for the Bank.

Private school tuitions increase every year. Same with colleges. When my kids were younger, pre financial crisis, the increased were in the 6-7% range. That’s why they are congratulating themselves for a rate half of that.

All the things you like about private school cost money (small classes, specials, fancy buildings, turf fields, art centers, etc). The cost of maintaining those things increases each year. It’s easy to say they should cut but if they start to make changes to class size etc then what’s the difference from a good public school?

IMF pays 80%+ for G4 non US citizens as a perk. World Bank and IFC no longer do.
Between the private school tuition perks and the asininely generous defined benefit plan people never leave the IMF, despite the terrible culture, waste, and bureaucracy. not to mention must wear a gray suit and tie every day. Pfft.