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Introducing “Tailored Tuition”
A tuition program designed to meet the unique financial position of each family
As we gear up for the 2016-17 admission season, I’m excited to announce that we will be implementing a new tuition program called “Tailored Tuition.” Instead of publishing a single tuition rate for each grade, we will present tuition as a range. This will allow families who feel they cannot afford to pay full tuition—and would otherwise not consider giving their children the best independent school experience in the Roanoke Valley—the opportunity to apply for a tuition that is tailored to the documented financial situation of the family.
This program is essentially a rebranding of our need-based financial assistance program and will help us market North Cross to families who might otherwise not consider sending their children here. We have spent nearly a year discussing and researching this program. The application process for Tailored Tuition is the same as for the need-based financial assistance application that we have used for years, and the budget reporting is no different. Calling the program “Tailored Tuition” will, in effect, help change the perspective of new families considering North Cross School.
Tailored Tuition will help us achieve two important objectives. First, the program will help us increase classroom revenue and allow us to continue to offer a robust academic program. We have created a four-minute video that outlines the expenses and revenues of a typical lower school classroom at North Cross. The video demonstrates how each additional student we put in a classroom closes the revenue gap and, in the long run, actually helps keep our top tuition from being much higher. Secondly, Tailored Tuition will help fulfill the school’s stated objective of composing a diverse student body that is able to make full use of our academic, athletic, and artistic offerings.
Many colleges, universities, and independent schools across the country now offer similar tuition packages under the names “Indexed Tuition” or “Variable Tuition.” According to an article published last year in The New York Times, the program has been implemented successfully at number of schools including the Duke School in Raleigh, North Carolina and Marin Preparatory School in San Francisco. These schools, faced with the reality that the number of families receiving some form of tuition assistance has increased steadily since 2007, moved to this model to help increase classroom revenue, to improve retention among current students, and to provide a marketing tool to help attract new families. The trend is also showing up right here in Virginia and is currently being offered at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy and Faith Christian School, for example.
Tailored Tuition is an optional program for our families and is not a requirement for students applying for admission to North Cross or when re-enrolling your student. For families currently receiving financial assistance, you will submit the same paperwork as you have in previous years, and a Tailored Tuition will be assigned to your family. Current families who do not receive financial assistance but want to apply for a Tailored Tuition may elect to do so; however, families would need to submit a written statement explaining the change in their financial circumstances along with a Tailored Tuition application. Answers to other frequently asked questions can be found on our website, or you can contact Amy Jackson, Director of Admission, if you have any questions.
The Tailored Tuition program will help us continue our five-year trajectory of school growth and improved financial stability. Please take a few minutes to visit the Affording North Cross web page, read the frequently asked questions about Tailored Tuition, and watch the video. Help us spread the word that North Cross offers the best academic experience in the Roanoke Valley, and that it is more affordable through Tailored Tuition.
Christian J. Proctor, Ph.D.
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