There is no navigating around it; private schools charge tuition. And as no student is identical, so it is with tuition, the charge to go to a private school varies from almost free to very costly. Private schools near larger cities tend to be expensive while those in more rural locations could cost less. Schools with religious affiliation tend to have lower tuition while prestigious prep schools can frequently be more pricey.
Families should shop for the right school for child by studying the programs offered, the expenses involved and also the scholarships, school funding, and tax credits that could reduce the cost of an independent school.
Application Fees
Most independent schools charge a credit application fee to pay testing and processing, and also to ensure that the applicant is actually enthusiastic about attending the varsity. The fees vary from a minimal or no application fee up to $300. On average, the charge is $50. In some instances the application fee is used against the first year's tuition.
Tuition
In line with the U. S. Department to train Institute of your practice Services, Digest of Education Statistics 2009, the average tuition charged for all those private schools in 2007-2008 was $8,549. The typical elementary school tuition to the period was $6,733, even though the average tuition for any private senior high school was $10,549. Within those averages is a huge range of tuition figures. The best tuition, $1,552 was charged for a religiously sponsored grade school even though the highest, $30,265, was charged by a nonsectarian secondary school. A number of private schools, thanks to endowments from donors or alumni, are tuition free for virtually any accepted student.
Text book and academic material fees
Independent schools charge text book and academic material fees. The fees can differ from a modest $50 for a religiously affiliated grade school to over $800 for the nonsectarian secondary school. Faced with rising costs and dwindling tax revenues, many public schools will also be charging book and academic fees. Some public schools are slashing specialized academic programs due to falling revenues. Private schools on the other hand usually keep or expand their academic programs since they're paid for directly by the fees charged to students. If students in a private school want an academic program, it is usually offered.
Sports fees
Private schools usually charge an athletic fee for each and every sport each student plays. Public school students may also be paying athletic fees and facing losing less popular or more expensive sports. Private school on the other hand have a tradition of maintaining and expanding their sports programs as they are purchased over the athletic fees, alumni donations or endowments.
Clothing and uniforms
Most independent schools require students have a dress code or wear a uniform. While the cost for uniforms or dress code clothing may seem steep initially, within the year it could actually cost less than buying the jeans, shirts or sneakers that are popular at the moment. Used uniform sales can significantly cut the expense of clothing bills. And quite a few private school students could care less what sort of khaki pants or white shirt they should wear to satisfy a dress code. Shop the sales and you can actually save money on your student's clothing costs.
Transportation to and from school
Typically, parents of non-public school students have to provide their child's transportation or pay a transportation fee. Carpooling can help to eliminate the costs of transportation which help draw families with students attending the college together. Some states and communities routinely provide transportation form of hosting school students specially those attending parochial elementary schools. Urban communities may provide reduced reely fares for college students attending any school, private or public.
Boarding schools
Students who live at the private boarding school should be expecting to pay for a little more about $7,000 or more for their bills. Some schools include all deposits expenses within the room and board cost, others use itemized bills.