Private School Tuition Up, but Demand Is Still Strong

The economy is down, but at Southern California private schools the tuition is up.

Rather than pull their children out of pricey schools where tuition and fees are approaching $20,000 a year, however, strapped parents are tightening their belts and turning to the financial aid office, school officials say.

“We actually began to feel this last school year, when the stock market--the Nasdaq in particular--began to fall. We felt that almost immediately,” said Kent Nealis, financial aid director at Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City, where tuition this year is a record $17,200, plus $2,000 to $3,000 in other fees.

Southern California is home to some of the most expensive, most selective prep schools in the country. Tuition has risen as much as 10% since last year, nearly three times the rate of inflation. Some day schools cost far more now than the public universities where they place their graduates. And the bills for boarding schools rival those of top-flight private colleges.

“Every year when the tuition bill comes, I wonder, ‘Why am I doing this?’ ” said Mary Lee, who has a son in 10th grade at the $19,000-a-year Webb School of California in Claremont, which also enrolls boarders. Lee’s older son just graduated from Webb.

“I look at what the school produces, and I realize I can cut out other things to invest in my children’s development,” she said.

Demand for private education could scarcely be stronger. Enrollment grew 19.4% over the last decade among members of the National Assn. of Independent Schools. On average, three students apply for every one who enrolls.

“There will always be schools for whom sticker shock is never a problem . . . because the quality of the program is such that parents who buy that simply don’t care,” said Anne Gunn, a consultant with Independent School Management in Wilmington, Del.

An 8% tuition hike and the sagging economy have resulted in a “moderate” increase in aid requests at Brentwood School, where seventh through 12th grade now costs nearly $16,000 a year. Kindergarten through sixth grade is just under $13,000.

“Every time you lift tuition, there’s always families right on the bubble and that increase will put them over,” said Brentwood admissions director Dave Velasquez.

On the other hand, Gunn said, “you also have some high-profile citizens who would consider $20,000 tuition petty cash.”

Not all private schools can afford to offer students financial aid, which can come in the form of grants, loans or more forgiving payment plans. Schools fund their scholarships through endowments, annual donations and the tuition of parents who pay full price.

Many private schools like to say that all of their students are on financial aid because tuition does not cover all of a school’s expenses. Things like alumni donations make up the difference.

“Some schools charge as much as it costs to go there, and we haven’t done that,” said Greg Feldmeth, interim head of Polytechnic School in Pasadena, where tuition ranges from $9,400 to $14,500. That is about $3,000 less than it costs to educate each child, he said.

“The recent economic changes have not affected us in terms of applicants, though it may take a year or two for that to take place,” he said. “The Internet industry’s collapse is fairly recent.”

The dot-com demise is partly to blame for families’ financial woes at Harvard-Westlake, Nealis said. Families that have been living six-figure lifestyles on loans backed by their stock options have suddenly found those options worthless, he said. Parents in the construction business also have hit a slump.

“Our families are as affected by swings in the business cycle as any others,” Nealis said. Had Hollywood’s writers and actors gone on strike this summer, he said, “Things could have been worse.”

Harvard-Westlake gives $3 million each school year to about 14% of its 1,560 students. In a normal year, the school would add four to six families to its financial aid rolls, Nealis said. Last month alone, five families came to him for assistance.

“That’s just all out of proportion to what it was last year,” he said. “I have no way of knowing what the rest of the year will bring.”

Despite having one of the highest tuitions in the area, Harvard-Westlake--like many schools--could fill its classrooms “several times over” with the students it turns away, said Headmaster Tom Hudnut. Even in a weak economy, that remains true at the school’s campuses in Bel-Air and Studio City, he said.

“We have parents who are willing to sacrifice to make it possible for their kids to continue here,” Hudnut said.

Private school tuition varies widely, as do the programs. Independent schools--nonprofit institutions governed by boards of trustees--tend to charge the most and also are the most selective. Among the independents, boarding schools charge more than day schools. At Thacher School in Ojai, for example, boarders will pay $28,200 this year while day students will pay $18,500.

Parochial schools, which often are subsidized by a church or diocese, set their tuition well below the independents. According to the California Catholic Conference, the cost to attend elementary schools in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties hovers around $1,850. At elementary schools in Orange County, tuition is typically $1,000 more.

High school tuition averages about $3,500 in the three-county Archdiocese of Los Angeles and $5,000 in the Diocese of Orange.

Why are private schools expensive? For one thing, they offer things that public schools often do not: individual attention, up-to-date laboratories, dozens of Advanced Placement classes and college-caliber programs in music, dance and art.

But one thing public schools do offer--higher teacher salaries--is driving recent tuition increases, those in private education say. As teachers retire and schools fiercely recruit new ones to replace them, private schools are trying to keep up with public schools.