Parents sending their children to boarding schools are now faced with annual increases in enrollement fees and tuition as the cost continues to go up. Despite these very challenging economic times, many boarding schools are either faced with parents who can pay or reporting challenges in finding affordable prices for families.With the increase tuition growing each year, families having less income or year parents savings for private schools are simply getting lower. Many familes in traditional boarding schools are faced with the cost of schools, while schoool adminstrators and heads of schools, are trying to replace crumbling buildings, or paying faculty, to finding more competitive facilities, to compete itthis changing 21st Century.
A change in funding by public schools, with even less money for school improvement, and even lesser money to pay teachers are suffering tremdously from budget cuts. The funding availability is also decreasing in public schools but private schools seem to doing fine.
This has made parents look at private schools as being a more attractive option. Many parents are not sure if all their question can be asked by simply visiting a web site and making a decision. This allows parents to ask a a consultant needing more advise before making any key decisions. This includes advising them on the expenses and prices for sending their children to a private school additional fees and cost not mentioned on a web site.
While some parents are simply " left out of the loop" most will find schools are between $48,00 to $52,000.00 per year or more" in the case of therapeutic bording schools or wildereness programs that top out at $495,00 four hundred ninety five dollars per day. This cost might be afforable or too expensive for some parents. Some states offer tax incentives for private schools depending on the requirment of the state and the funding sources.
One parent lamintes that " we just cannot afford to send our son to a private school", How do these parent's do it?" -in this economy, its impossible" for the average family to afford this cost. While most consultants are now advising parents on the finacial piece, we believe dicussing with all parents, is essential before "quoting the price tag".
Most parents will find private schools, simply do not know what is out there" for families, and with funding decreasing hiring an educational consultant to do the homework may be more cost effective. Despite the price tag, at private schools, many parents are not going to consultants for information. This growing trend not only among affluent families is being recommended by middle and lower income families.
We know private schools are still outranking public school in overall college acceptance. Most parents unaware of this simply may decide they cannot afford a private school, which has a 95-100% acceptance rate at colleges and universities, compared to public schools which have about 52% percent acceptance rate in any college.
Schools like Harvard, Yale and Princeton, listed as the tops colleges and universities still have more endowment funds, and scholarship availablity for families. Most boarding schools or day schools similarly have higher acceptance with a large endowment funding available to families in traditional boarding schools. While these elite schools offer more acceptance in colleges, still find selectiveness in the admission process and funding through scholarships and other trust funds.
While the cost may seem high for parents, students who are accepted, at a prestigiious college or univeristy or boarding school will often find more financial aid available than attending a state or public school. The question many parents have is generally, the overall cost for atttending a private school and the cost after leaving a private school.
We have studied this for several years, and found many private schools are still facing the challenges of public schools, but they simply have more private donors. This is what make the big difference in a child attending a private school along with their selectiveness in a school. Many elite boarding schools for girls like Miss Porter, Miss Halls amongother smaller boarding schools have a strong alumni and their support is invaluable to the student's who graduate from these schools. Equally boys schools like Trinity Pawling have larger endowment for students.
It seems the larger the private schools the less their might be available depending on the endowment and trust fund. Most parents come to consultants looking for a school not the cost. We have found many parents already know the cost and are prepared to pay this cost. Middle income families wanting to attend a private day or boarding school might have to sacrifice more to get their child through a school. Some familes have asked us for admission in the 9th grade or even lower grades to reduce expenses.
Do you want a student to attend throughout graduation and not enter in the last two years. What do you think? Are private schools outrpricing parents? What role would an hiring an consultant contribute to searching independently? What information to parents look for? Do parents understand the cost for tuition versus other expenses. Is doing the homework yourself a good way to find out information?
