When narrowing down your list of potential schools, a major factor to consider is cost. While public and charter schools are paid for using taxpayer dollars, private schools rely on student tuition. NYC private schools can be very expensive -- when we looked at 30 of the highest ranked schools in the city, we recorded an average tuition of $52k for kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year (see chart below). However, don’t let these high costs dissuade you from applying!
The vast majority of private schools offer some sort of tuition assistance -- on average, for the same 30 schools, 21% of enrolled students will receive financial support.
Financial aid (“FA”) is given out each year to eligible new students based on their ability to pay. In order to be eligible to receive aid, you need to meet specific financial criteria (depending on your family’s income, assets, etc.). In addition, it’s important to note that you should apply for it when you apply to the school. Because these funds come from an allocated budget, many schools will not be able to provide FA after your student has already been enrolled for a year or more. Fortunately, applying for FA will not impact your student’s application to the school, as the two processes are often managed independently.
Financial aid decisions are usually announced at the same time as enrollment decisions.
Based on information posted to each school's website in April 2021, the expected full 2021-2022 school year tuition for those 30 schools is as follows:
*Note: tuition covers different things at different schools. For example, at Spence, tuition covers books, lunch and class trips.
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