Rich school, Rich School: Financial Aid and Affording Private School

So you can stretch enough for next year's kindergarten tuition. What about 8th grade, if it's 40% more than the current tuition?

Historically, tuitions have increased 4% a year, as shown in the chart below. It's important to account for this when deciding if private school is financially survivable. A few formulas:

• Tuition for kindergarten this fall = 1.04 x current K tuition.
• 8th grade tuition for kindergartner staring this fall =  1.42 x current 8th grade tuition
• Total cost of K-8 = 11 x current K tuition,
  assuming the same tuition for upper grades as lower grades.

Tuition Increases at SF Independent Schools, 2009-13

When doing financial planning, it's good to remember that your assets are included in financial aid calculations. This makes it hard to save for other priorities like a home, high school or college. If you own a home, part of the home value is protected. But if you've been saving up for a down payment on a home, be prepared to spend it on tuition. Started a 529 plan for college tuition? Be ready to use it on K-8.

How much do schools budget toward financial aid?

Most schools allocate a set percentage of their tuition revenue to financial aid. For example, Live Oak has allocated 17% of their tuition revenue for 72-73 students a year since 2009.  Looking at the percentage of tuition revenue or operating budget allocated to financial aid is one way to examine a school's commitment to economic diversity.

The percentage of students on financial aid can also be helpful, but at all the schools below, 70-80% of families earn enough to pay full freight, sometimes for 2 or more children.  Moreover, even as tuitions have risen, the percentage of students on financial aid has dropped at many schools, most notably Children's Day, San Francisco School, and San Francisco Day.

Here's the numbers for the data geeks out there.

SCHOOL	Year	Percentage of students on financial aid	Estimated average tuition for students on fin aid	Full Tuition	Total spent on financial aid	Financial aid as a % of tuition revenue
CATHEDRAL	2014‑15	"about 1/3"	$12,100	$27,625	1.4m	19%
	2013‑14	"about 1/3"	$12,000	$26,700	1.327m	18%
	2012‑13	"about 1/3"	$12,900	$25,700	1.147m	17%
	2009‑10	23%	$10,900	$22,500	1.017m	17%
CHILDREN'S DAY	2013‑14	31%	website $8704	$25,400	"over 2m"	22%
	2011‑12	36%	website $8425	$23,250	1.91m	24%
	2009‑10	40%	website $8709	$21,190	1.67m	25%
SYNERGY	2013‑14	30%		$16,500 K‑5 $17,200 6-8
	2011‑12	32%	$6,400	$14,800	0.51m	18%
	2010‑11			$14,100	0.57m	21%
SF SCHOOL	2013‑14	29%	$9,900	$24,756 K‑5 $26,457 6‑8	1.24m	18%
	2011‑12	31%	$9,500	$21,510 K‑5 $23,500 6-8	1.08m	18%
	2009‑10	35%	$9,800	$19,950 K‑5 $21,520 6‑8	0.9m	18%
LIVE OAK	2013‑14	27%		$24,610
	2011‑12	27%	$8,800	$23,550	1.07m	17%
	2009‑10	website 25% Form 990 29%	$8,300	$21,150 $22,600	0.95m	17%
SF FRIENDS	2013‑14	26%	$7,500	$26,000		18.5%
	2011‑12	26%	$7,900	$24,045	1.79m	18%
	2009‑10	26%	$6,600	$22,665	1.51m	18%
PRESIDIO HILL	2013‑14	22%		$23,900 K‑3 $24,950 4‑8
	2011‑12	website 21% Form 990 23%	$7,500	$22,000 K‑3 $23,295 4‑8	0.67m	15%
	2009‑10	22%	$5,300	$19,985 K‑3  $21,265 4‑8	0.69m	17%
SF DAY	2013‑14	21%	website $7,810	$27,470	1.65m	15%
	2011‑12	22%	$7,600	$25,770	1.70m	17%
	2009‑10	25%	website $7,340	$23,540	1.70m	18%
BURKE (done)	2013‑14	20%		$26,700 K‑4 $27,750 5‑8		11.5%
	2011‑12	website 22% Form 990 20%	$12,500	$25,000 K‑4 $26,000 5‑8	1.05m	10%
	2009-10	22%	$11,200	$23,400 K‑4 $24,200 5‑8	1.09m	11%
HAMLIN (done)	2013‑14	19%		$28,500	website 1.58m*
	2011‑12	website 21% Form 990 22%	$11,600	$25,675	website 1.32m* actual 1.22m	12%
	2009‑10	website 22% Form 990 19%	$10,400	$23,475	website 1.2m* actual 1.08m	11%
TOWN	2013‑14	19%	$	$26,700 K‑5 $27,720 6-8
	2012‑13	20%	$10,300	$25,670 K‑5 $26,650 6-8	1.24m	12%
	2009‑10	17%		$23,710 K‑5 $24,650 6-8	1.10m	11%
ALTA VISTA	2013‑14	NL		$21,000	NL	NL
	2011‑12	11%		$19,000 K $20,000 1‑2	$119k	13%
MARIN PREP	2013‑14	NL		$20,630 K $22,070 1-5	NL	NL
	2012‑13	10%	approx $15,600	$19,930 K $21,320 1-5	$25k	2%

* Hamlin typically spends less on financial aid than the budgeted amount listed on its website.
NL=not listed.