Financial AId
Prep School Admission & Financial Aid Decisions Arrive in the Next Few Days
In prep school admission and financial aid, it’s good to be ready for anything.
With first round admission and financial aid letters due to arrive to families in the next few days, it’s time think about perspectives, plans, and responses depending on the offers you receive from schools.
It’s always best to have one’s ducks in a [...]
Insight Into the Current State of Boarding and Private School Finances
Concord Monitor writer Karen Langley published a piece in last Sunday’s paper (Private Schools Weather Downturn: Many approaches taken to cut costs) covering the state of enrollment and finances of New Hampshire private schools.
She touches on the obvious- financial aid requests are up for all schools, endowment growth and income are down.
Of note, she adds [...]
The Current State of Private School Financial Aid from the Research Triangle
In a “Record numbers seek financial aid from private schools,” WRAL contributor Jane Paige touches on FA themes that we’ve been reading about and covering over the past year and a half. FA applications are up; school resources are stretched.
Paige does two things that make the article worthy of a quick read. [...]
Family Sacrifice Helps Connecticut Private Schools Weather Recession
The Hartford Courant ran a piece last Thursday (Connecticut’s Private Schools Have Suffered Only A Glancing Blow From Recession) covering the relief that Connecticut schools are finding in many a family’s commitment to their best education options. Yes, enrollment is down a bit. Yes, financial aid requests are up. But, in the [...]
Read MoreBoone Pickens Brings Boarding School to Students in Need
Boone Pickens is doing what I’d do if I had either a pile of money and/or a magic wand- providing the foundation and support to bring the benefits and opportunities of boarding school beyond those who can pay the tuition.
Pickens donated $2.5 million for the T. Boone Pickens Training Center at Happy Hill Farm Academy. [...]
Carnival of College Admission is Back!
AdmissionsQuest is thrilled to host this edition of the Carnival of College Admission.
We first hosted way back when the Carnival was just getting started. Now look at it… it’s has exploded in size.
Congrats to Mark Montgomery over at Great College Advice for building the CCA into a real powerhouse of blog posts.
So, lets go ahead [...]
When Market Realities and Mission Conflict
You’re a seasoned admission director, new at your current school and enthusiastic about this exciting opportunity. Within a year, you have established a marketing strategy that includes the usual glossy viewbook, flash presentations, E-Newsletters, bump mailings along with the requisite round of school fairs and informal receptions. By the third year, application numbers have improved [...]
Read MoreTuition Insurance
Tuition insurance is a product that I had put out-of-sight/out-of-mind over the years. But the New York Times ran a brief conversation (What You Need to Know About Tuition Insurance) with “Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on student loans who publishes the Web site Finaid.org” (NYT) that merits mention.
While most of the conversation covers college tuition [...]
Supporting a Private School Student in Need- Directly and Personally
The power of the personal decision to act is in full view in the LA Times article, Off to private Brentwood School, thanks to the kindness of strangers.
David and Jacki Horwitz responded to news coverage of Lorelei Oliver’s work to find and fund private school for her son Kamal Key.
Several phone calls, e-mails and meetings [...]
In Any Market, the Down Portion of the Cycle Offers Buying Opportunities: Private Schools Are No Different- Carpe Diem
In a piece for SmartMoney (The Private School Pinch), Neil Parmer makes the case for the current private school admission cycle as a buyers opportunity. He doesn’t sugar coat the costs but he makes the case for- and provides ideas and examples- of the negotiating and buying opportunities available to parents.
Boarding and private schools [...]
Parents and Schools Working to Maintain Private School Opportunities
Diana Costello has written a snapshot of the school and family sides of the private school admission process in the lower Hudson River Valley for the Journal News and LoHud.com (“Parents still paying up for private schools“).
She chronicles the thinking and decisions of families as administrators work to keep their schools full and parents [...]
Shared Sacrifice: Jim Wickenden Echos the Call
Jim Wickenden, principal of his eponymous firm, Wickenden Associates called out school heads in the name of shared sacrifice in his blog post titled “Setting an Example.” Citing school cost cutting efforts, Jim notes the symbolic importance of school heads sharing in communal sacrifice and the message that a school heads public sacrifice would send.
“…And [...]
Steady Application Numbers- Increased Aid Applications: Confirmation of what we’ve been hearing
Admission professionals have been telling us the same story throughout the school year. Applications and inquiries are steady. Financial aid requests are up.
Using interviews at a few schools and with the National Association of Independent Schools, the New York Daily News ran a piece (Private schools see more financial aid requests during recession – [...]
Now Is the Time to Give
If you believe in a boarding or independent school and you can afford to make a financial contribution, give now. Independent schools- just as colleges and universities- are working through endowment decreases and pressure. With increased financial aid demand, creating an even greater strain on institutional savings and finances.
If independent school is part of your [...]
Strong Cultural Institution Confront Budget Pressures
Julliard is putting its Music Advancement Program on indefinite hiatus with fundraising under pressure. The program will complete it second year obligation with current students but has canceled auditions and will add no new students this year. The Music Advancement Program brings music lessons to kids who don’t normally have access to music training.
Professional pianist [...]
