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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]But the question is if all the tuition increase is justified or not. There seem to be unlimited demand for the current price, but still are the higher prices associated with better quality, or it’s just profits that are absorbed by admin staff. (For instance by expanding admin staff). [/quote]

But that’s a different question.

You have to understand that monopoly cases relate to market concentration (does an entity have an unreasonable share of the market such that it can charge monopoly prices) or price fixing (collusion to fix prices across entities). The other people saying that it’s a private school so they can do whatever they want are wrong, but making a case that there is excessively concentrated market power with a given school or collusion to set prices would be next to impossible.[/quote]

Agree with you. No monopoliy. The question is if the school is transparent enough about the pricing structure such that consumers can have an informed opinion if thee is fraud or waste and can move if the increase in tuition is not justified. [/quote]

Many private schools’ tuition actually do not cover the full cost of attendance and are subsidized by endowments/fundraising. Most schools will share what their average cost to serve is, mine did. I make sure to exceed that amount when I donate.

The biggest expenses for schools are salary/benefits and operating costs. If you want the best teachers and administrators while keeping the students to faculty ratio low, you have to hire more qualified teachers and pay them competitively. You also have to keep pace with the market and continually adjust their pay to account for inflation and other factors. Operating expenses including debt/interest payments, insurance, utilities, grounds & facilities maintenance, and capital projects consistently increases. Can you predict exactly how all these factors will increase every year? Did you get a raise last year? Did your home and car insurance increase? Mine did.

Privates also don’t have the scale of public systems to spread many of the fixed expenses. For example, how much are the superintendents of APS, FCPS, and MCPS paid? If you want the best person to lead your school, you have to target someone with a superintendent’s skills and pay for it. Unfortunately, those costs can only be spread across 800-1,200 students instead of

Most of these expenses are disclosed if you know where to look. Finally, if you distrust your school because they won’t share this information freely, you should switch to public. I’m sure you’ll get all the transparency and good governance you desire. [/quote]

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