How to Apply for Private School Financial Aid

Eric Long, Tabor Academy (a coed boarding school in Marion, MA), Director of Financial Aid, shares his thoughts and insights about the processes and steps a family must take as they apply for private school financial aid.

"The only guarantee is that if you don't apply (for financial aid) you won't receive financial aid....You just don't know until you apply."

Don't let the arduousness of applying for financial aid deter you.

Long advocates managing the financial process from the outset. For families, this means researching and learning about schools and their financial aid strategies as well as talking about and exploring financial aid- beginning with your earliest admission office conversations. Financial aid fit and school are two sides of the same coin and he advocates beginning a candid conversation from the start.

As a family commits to the admission application process they also must commit to the financial application process. Long recommends beginning with SSS and the Parent Financial Statement (PFS). The PFS is the financial statement that families must fill out in order to be evaluated for financial aid. SSS evaluates and produces a family's expected contribution from the PFS data.

Final financial aid levels are determined by each individual school.

Know financial aid application deadlines. Financial aid deadlines run roughly concurrent to admission deadlines. But they are not identical and financial aid deadlines are often earlier than admission deadlines.

"It's much better to be early than to be late..."

Don't risk missing financial aid deadlines. Start early. Be candid. Don't hold back in talking about money. "You just don't know until you apply."

For more info about Tabor Academy or to contact Eric Long, visit www.taboracademy.org.