Anonymous
04/17/2025 17:58
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:But why is the case tuition is very similar across private schools in dc. Same average cost. Not sure.
Have you ever noticed that Mercedes BMW and Lexus all have cars in a very similar price range.? Why is it that Honda Toyota and Nissan are all in the same price category? Is this legal?
When you buy a Mercedes you don’t pay over 12 years and at the third year the price starts rising like crazy. Again. Private education is not like buying blue jeans.
On the contrary, what your jeans and your Mercedes and your private school have in common is they are all subject to the free market, and they are also subject to the very real cost of providing that product. In the case of a school, they all have to pay approximately the same salary to each of their teachers that a competing school will have to pay. There is a cost per square foot for real estate that is fairly consistent. And when school A wants to raise their tuition to 58k to cover their expenses, but they notice that school B is getting the job done for 54k, school A just might think twice and go to 56k which appears really close to the tuition from the other school. This is all free market stuff.
Yes. They are in the free market except that they don’t pay taxes like any normal corporation and they could pass those savings to the parents via lower tuition. Am I missing something?
You are missing a great many things. Too many to enumerate.
Such as?…..
NP here.
Every independent school sets tuition lower than the actual cost to educate each child
Independent schools receive no funding from the government. Older schools have a huge leg up because they have more alumni and more generations of family wealth to draw from. Just for example:
Sidwell, founded in 1883 $81.1 million
Maret, founded in 1911, $50 million
NCS, founded in 1900, $40 million
That's not the situation at most schools. Most are trying to balance a budget, meet the significant expectations of parents, and retain faculty. And all of this while jobs are disappearing and we're in a global trade war.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 13:56
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Hi OP - private schools don’t owe you transparency, not in their tuition pricing, or their financial aid policies, or their student selection. I know you keep on starting these threads, and now the others have been pulled down, but I don’t think you’re winning the argument or really understanding the nature of what you’re arguing.
Not sure. The threads get a lot of traction. Wonder why these questions make parents uncomfortable?
Anonymous
04/17/2025 13:55
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:It’s funny that excessive price increases in health care could potentially be linked to abusive practices in the health care market.
Not sure why the tax exemptions does not translate in lower tuition costs.
This is nonsensical. Tax exempt merely lowers one line item in a lengthy budget. Why don’t you look at some of the filings from the top privates? Sounds like you’ll be surprised that tuition doesn’t cover their per pupil expenses. They rely on fundraising and endowments.
Of course if the HOS costs 1 million they need to do more fundraising.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 13:54
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:But why is the case tuition is very similar across private schools in dc. Same average cost. Not sure.
Have you ever noticed that Mercedes BMW and Lexus all have cars in a very similar price range.? Why is it that Honda Toyota and Nissan are all in the same price category? Is this legal?
When you buy a Mercedes you don’t pay over 12 years and at the third year the price starts rising like crazy. Again. Private education is not like buying blue jeans.
On the contrary, what your jeans and your Mercedes and your private school have in common is they are all subject to the free market, and they are also subject to the very real cost of providing that product. In the case of a school, they all have to pay approximately the same salary to each of their teachers that a competing school will have to pay. There is a cost per square foot for real estate that is fairly consistent. And when school A wants to raise their tuition to 58k to cover their expenses, but they notice that school B is getting the job done for 54k, school A just might think twice and go to 56k which appears really close to the tuition from the other school. This is all free market stuff.
Yes. They are in the free market except that they don’t pay taxes like any normal corporation and they could pass those savings to the parents via lower tuition. Am I missing something?
You are missing a great many things. Too many to enumerate.
Such as?…..
Anonymous
04/17/2025 12:50
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:But why is the case tuition is very similar across private schools in dc. Same average cost. Not sure.
Have you ever noticed that Mercedes BMW and Lexus all have cars in a very similar price range.? Why is it that Honda Toyota and Nissan are all in the same price category? Is this legal?
When you buy a Mercedes you don’t pay over 12 years and at the third year the price starts rising like crazy. Again. Private education is not like buying blue jeans.
On the contrary, what your jeans and your Mercedes and your private school have in common is they are all subject to the free market, and they are also subject to the very real cost of providing that product. In the case of a school, they all have to pay approximately the same salary to each of their teachers that a competing school will have to pay. There is a cost per square foot for real estate that is fairly consistent. And when school A wants to raise their tuition to 58k to cover their expenses, but they notice that school B is getting the job done for 54k, school A just might think twice and go to 56k which appears really close to the tuition from the other school. This is all free market stuff.
Yes. They are in the free market except that they don’t pay taxes like any normal corporation and they could pass those savings to the parents via lower tuition. Am I missing something?
You are missing a great many things. Too many to enumerate.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 11:50
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:It’s funny that excessive price increases in health care could potentially be linked to abusive practices in the health care market.
Not sure why the tax exemptions does not translate in lower tuition costs.
This is nonsensical. Tax exempt merely lowers one line item in a lengthy budget. Why don’t you look at some of the filings from the top privates? Sounds like you’ll be surprised that tuition doesn’t cover their per pupil expenses. They rely on fundraising and endowments.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 11:50
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Salaries of HOS are close to 1 million in the top DC schools.
This is nauseating. Their main skill is PR.
That’s an outrageous thing to say.
Why? What in your opinion is the most important skill a HOS needs to have?
Dealing with parents like you
Anonymous
04/17/2025 11:47
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Salaries of HOS are close to 1 million in the top DC schools.
This is nauseating. Their main skill is PR.
That’s an outrageous thing to say.
Why? What in your opinion is the most important skill a HOS needs to have?
Anonymous
04/17/2025 11:47
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
This thread was obviously started by the same person who started the HOS salary thread and the anti-FA thread recently. Anyways, SSFS was cheaper than a lot of other schools and they closed, so cheaper tuition is necessarily the answer. Parochial schools are cheaper, you could send your kid there if you’re against public school.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 11:36
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Salaries of HOS are close to 1 million in the top DC schools.
Good for them, if that’s what the market is I’m sure they still make a lot less than many of the parents they work with.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 11:33
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Hi OP - private schools don’t owe you transparency, not in their tuition pricing, or their financial aid policies, or their student selection. I know you keep on starting these threads, and now the others have been pulled down, but I don’t think you’re winning the argument or really understanding the nature of what you’re arguing.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 11:27
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Maybe upper middle class, but they put a lot of effort to pay full tuition.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 10:36
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Where are middle class parents paying full tuition? Do we even have a middle class anymore?
Anonymous
04/17/2025 09:34
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I have a quick question.
Normally if there are monopolistic practices that are detrimental to consumers you could file a claim at the federal trade commission or the office of consumer protection in dc. Is there anything similar for schools, or in essence they are free to charge anything they want. This is genuine question. Thank you.
This is subject to a higher law -- supply and demand. Don't like the price, don't pay it. If enough don't like the price, it will reduce to meet demand.
Clearly there are cases where supply and demand do not work. One example is Amazon. Become a dominant player in the market. Not quite the situation of schools, but the governance it’s quite an issue. Biggest donors get to influence the budget any the expense of a lot of middle class parents that pay full tuition. There could be more incentives to be cost effective I believe.
Anonymous
04/17/2025 09:10
Subject: Question on High Tuition…
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Salaries of HOS are close to 1 million in the top DC schools.
This is nauseating. Their main skill is PR.
Try fundraising for several millions of dollars a year and then let’s talk.
Why don’t you have a fundraising committee working the work?
Heads are supposed to be focused on the students, NOT fundraising.
That isn't exactly how it works.