Effective Practices: Accessible Tuition
Gleaning from our experience working with small schools and organizations for nearly five years as a group and decades as individuals, we have created a series of documents on Effective Practices that we are excited to offer to our clients.
Each document is focused on a key theme or area that clients often have questions about or need support to improve. Our intention with the Effective Practice documents is to offer maps for our clients and share resources that can serve a wide range of small schools and types of organizations. We intend for these resources to support unique inquiries and journeys while addressing common themes, as communities widen to become more inclusive, equitable, diverse, and just.
Today, we warmly share the next in our Effective Practices series, Accessible Tuition. This document focuses on strategies, resources, and important aspects to consider regarding tuition models and the ways they shape school communities.
Document preview:
In independent schools, tuition can be a site of inclusion or exclusion, depending on a school’s policies and practices. Accessible tuition is an essential way for schools to put their values into practice by acknowledging socio-economic diversity, wealth inequality, and the inherent value of all students, regardless of financial access. By developing Accessible Tuition policies, schools can intentionally and purposefully create communities that enable students from a range of backgrounds to learn together.
Effective practices to consider:
Look into your neighborhood: Is your most local community sending their children to your school? If not, why?
Consider, research and discuss:
Ability to serve the students you bring in: Are your teachers, families, and overall school culture prepared to meet a truly diverse group of students? (Ex: How will you handle exclusion or incidents of bias that may arise? What programs will support the student who is learning English as a second language? How will you integrate parents who work long hours and can’t participate in parent meetings or other aspects of community life? How will you support a child who may not have homework support, enough to eat, adequate clothing, or access to the tools needed for remote learning?)
Building diverse community: Recognize the non-monetary value of bringing in a broader range of students, who will likely bring new and important talents/gifts to the community and have a positive effect on recruitment and retention. Evaluate your maximum award amount. What would happen (positive and negative) if you gave more awards or scholarships?
Income inequality: The realities of income inequality in the US impact what families can pay. Don’t assume that a family who has less wealth works less or cares less about their children’s education.
Language: What you call the program matters. “Aid” and “assistance” can be demeaning or paternalistic. Consider alternatives like “accessible tuition,” “flexible tuition,” or “scaled tuition.” (See the article “Reexamining the Language of Financial Aid” in the Resources section.)
Lifestyle: Some families with high income have high expenses but many of those expenses may be optional or luxury, rather than necessities. Many schools state that they expect families to prioritize tuition over optional expenditures, which might include vacations, luxury home and/or second home, number and make of cars, choosing to have a parent/caregiver stay at home rather than pursue full-time employment, paid house cleaning, paid lawn service.
Other fees: Trip fees, music lessons, and other ancillary but required costs at your school. These must be covered by Accessible Tuition.
Training is crucial for Business Office and Accessible Tuition Committee
These bodies must be aligned with and carefully implementing the school’s goals around Accessible Tuition
Familiarity with diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) concepts and demonstrated sensitivity to diverse families is a necessity
Having an Accessible Tuition Committee is essential; there should never be just 1-2 people making Accessible Tuition decisions, as there are too many opportunities for error, myopia, and/or bias to enter the process
The full document (available only to current clients) includes more effective practices and a list of accompanying resources. If you’re a current client and don’t have access to this document, please write to us at connect@almapartners.net for a copy. We also offer 1-hour consulting sessions to go deeper on the content of this document. If you’re not a client yet, book an introductory call with us to learn more!
