Welcome to a week (or more depending of how many guest posts I snag) of Back to School Money Saving advice. From your wee littlest ones in preschool, all the way through Graduate and Professional school, Money Saving Lords and Ladies in the Court of the Queen of Free will be bringing you their best $ saving tips.
Today, we get things start with a 2 part series on Saving $ When it Comes to Private Schooling. Our guest poster is Lady Amy of the 4th Frog Blog – a wonderfully sweet and fantastic blogger who I have continually bumped into this summer and who was also brave enough to fly on a fantastic adventure. Her family has made a choice to private school but still use strategies to save. Read along today and tomorrow for her best tips!
How to Make Private School Tuition More Affordable – Part 1
We live in a good school district. By all accounts, both the elementary school and the middle school are top-notch. The high school, while quite large, also is well-regarded for its educational and extracurricular offerings. All of which makes my neighbors wonder why we would pay good money to send our kids to Catholic school, when practically everyone else in the neighborhood boards the bus for the local public schools.
If you are a family who has chosen to send your kids to private school (religious or otherwise) or if you’ve even considered making that choice, your reasons for doing so may include the desire to provide your children religious instruction as part of their daily learning, smaller class sizes, more individual attention, a family-like atmosphere, or the potential for better scores on standardized tests.
Regardless of the reason for your choice, if you’ve looked into private school or you already send your children to private school, you know one thing for sure: It’s not cheap.
Because you are already a fan of the Queen of Free, I know you’re all over ways to make your budget lean and mean and make your money work for you. But I’d like to offer a few ideas that might help make private school more affordable for your family:
1. Apply for financial aid. The best time to do this is generally in the spring. However, if you have a change in your financial situation (you or your spouse loses a job, for instance), contact the school office about the possibility of applying mid-year.
2. Don’t take no for an answer. If your application for financial aid is turned down, or if the award amount is not enough for your needs, go to the school administration and explain your situation. Often, school administrators are in contact with benefactors who are willing to provide tuition support for families in need.
3. Apply for scholarships. At my children’s school, in addition to financial aid, there are several scholarships awarded each year. Some are designated by the faculty and staff. Others are competitive and involve an application process. Check out what may be available at your school.
4. Put your student to work. High schoolers attending private school may qualify for summer work study programs that will offset a portion of their tuition.
5. Ask about a multi-child discount. Most private schools offer reduced tuition for families with more than one child in attendance at the school.
6. Use SCRIP or similar programs to your advantage. SCRIP is a fundraising program through which the school sells gift cards to a variety of restaurants and retailers. For each gift card sold, the school receives a rebate from the retailer. Some schools will share that rebate in the form of a tuition credit to the purchaser. So if you purchased a $100 Kohl’s gift card, the school would get $4 and they might give you a percentage of that rebate as a tuition credit.
Tomorrow, Lady Amy shares six more tips to share with you to help you be a wise spender when it comes to private schooling. Be sure to catch part two of this series. And thanks Lady Amy for sharing your wisdom!
If you are interested in guest posting on the Back to School Bonanza, please e-mail me! I’m particularly looking for posts sharing tips to saving with a student in Middle School, Shoe shopping tips, and sports/extra curricular savings!
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