Dear Tara:
I was the director of a cooperative nursery school that had a sliding scale tuition. Families had to submit their w-2 if they did not want to be placed at the top of the scale. Also, budgeting when you have a sliding scale is tricky because you do not know exactly how many families will fall into each category. We had a few solutions for this that I can share if you like. One way to account for an inability to know exactly what the center will be bringing in as income is to budget for enrollment that is not full and use the median tuition to establish your income.
Another point is to make sure that the scale is modified as economics change - income levels across the country, etc. One level that we have to be careful with is the tuition for those at the bottom of the income scale. The top tuition (and really all levels except perhaps the lowest level) is a moving target based on the cost of living index among other things.
You do want to set your tuition scale in such a way that you can give adequate pay to your teachers and assistants. If you decide that you will provide benefits to them, you need to factor that in as well.
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Nora Krieger, PhD
Associate Professor Emerita/Past Chair NJEEPRE
Bloomfield College/NJ Educators Exploring the Practices of Reggio Emilia
Highland Park, NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-06-2021 10:36 AM
From: Tara Katz
Subject: Sliding Scale for Tuition
Hello Sarah,
I run a non profit preschool in Seattle, and will be opening a new daycare soon, and we want to move towards a sliding scale tuition system. Due to the insane costs of remodeling during Covid we are over budget and two years behind our targeted opening date so we can't implement this dream yet. I'd love to keep in touch and share ideas around this.
As a preschooler I went to Stanford University Bing Nursery School. If I remember correctly I think my mother told me they were on a sliding scale. This was almost 60 years ago, but it might be worth reaching out to them.
All my best,
Tara
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Tara Katz
Director
Fremont Community School
Seattle WA
Original Message:
Sent: 11-05-2021 03:34 PM
From: Sarah Garczynski
Subject: Sliding Scale for Tuition
Does anyone use a sliding scale tuition in a center based setting? If so what factors is it based on and could you tell me what your formula is?
I am working with a program who is looking for a more equitable approach to tuition and would love to see some model and examples of a sliding scale, so I'm reaching out to this amazing community for some real life examples if anyone has some!
Thank you in advance for any insight you have!
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Sarah Garczynski, M.Ed.
Quality Improvement Specialist
CCR&R
Salem, OR
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