Require students to meet behavioral and academic standards to continue receiving tuition assistance.

By tying the continuation of tuition assistance to behavioral and academic standards you quickly erase the complaint that tuition assistance funds only attract undesirable students.

This will give you leverage in dealing with tough situations in which the families are also on assistance. It will also give parents leverage in working with their child's academic performance.

Not the Administrator, not the Board

Use a committee of 3-5 to make tuition assistance decisions, (not the administrator and not the board).

In a recent survey we learned that it is not at all unusual for an administrator to make tuition assistance decisions on his/her own - and in many cases in the presence of the families. Let me say this nicely - that is not the most prudent course of action. The administrator who does this opens himself/herself up to potential complaints when families feel that there have been inequities - especially if the inequity means that they pay more than their friend pays.

It is much cleaner and more professional to utilize a committee to make these decisions. Then the administrator can distance himself or herself from the financial portion of the family's decision. Not only does this appear to be more professional to the families, it also relieves the administrator of one more task that he/she does not have to do.

In most schools it isn't too difficult to find 3-5 families who can make wise decisions and can keep a confidence. A good job description will go a long ways in spelling out your expectations. (CFAs' client manual includes a comprehensive job description that includes a list of what should be kept on file, and who should have access to those files.) If you feel more comfortable with a board presence, assign one board member to the committee - typically the board Treasurer.

Scale back on multiple-child discounts

Our school was like many others in the US. We provided hefty multiple-child discounts. Then one day a mother came to us and said "Here's a check for the difference - I don't need a discount, and it's not right for me to take it."

There seems to be some psychological advantage to giving discounts. That's why we shop at Sam's or COSTCO. We believe that if we purchase by the case we should get it cheaper. But allowing a third or fourth child to attend for free only hurts the school financially and makes you seem like a discount warehouse. On the other side of this coin: reducing multiple-child discounts will enable you to free up more funds for families with a demonstrated need.

A 5-8% maximum would be a more reasonable discount. Multiple-child families who still find it hard to afford a Christian education for their children can apply for tuition assistance, and receive it - based on their actual financial situation. This is a much more cost-effective way to deal with tuition and tuition discounts.

Budget tuition aid based on a percentage of tuition income rather than a dollar amount.

Let's say your budget anticipates $500,000 in tuition income, and you plan on giving out $50,000 in tuition aid (10% of your anticipated tuition income). When the $50,000 is used, and the dollars are all gone, then the Administrator or the individual responsible for recruitment has to go back to the board for more money. If the budget is based on a percentage - in this case 10% of tuition income, then whether your enrollment grows or shrinks the recruiter will have much more freedom in using tuition assistance for recruiting new families.

What's a reasonable percentage?
The average school in the US gives away about 4% of their tuition income. Research has shown that this is definitely not enough. As a result the percentage of Christian school families making $35,000 - $100,000 is shrinking rapidly.

There are actually two targets for tuition assistance funds to keep in mind when trying to determine how much is enough.

1) Your current families. How much is enough to retain your current families? 6-10% is probably a better number to start with. You could begin planning with your current percentage, and increase that percentage every time you increase tuition, because every time tuition increases, a larger number of families will need help paying it.

2) If you desire to use tuition assistance as a recruitment tool, you will need to venture into the 10-15% range. This will vary depending upon how high your tuition is and how many lower-income families you want to reach. Keep in mind that the average family applying for tuition assistance will need 1/3 to 1/ 2 of their tuition paid.

Increase financial aid twice as fast as you increase tuition

Rule of thumb:
When tuition exceeds 7%-10% of a family's net monthly income, it becomes difficult for them to pay.

Every time you increase tuition, you increase the number of families within your school who cannot afford your tuition.

To ensure that there is an adequate amount of aid available you should plan to increase tuition aid twice what you increase tuition. In other words, if you increase tuition 5% you should increase tuition aid 10%. If you increase tuition 7% you should increase tuition aid 14%.

In surveying schools for nearly 20 years we have seen a disturbing trend. Schools have increased tuition with little or no increases in tuition aid. As a result, the percentage of enrolled families making $35,000 - $100,000 has been decreasing at a rapid rate.

For many schools the percentage of families making under $35,000 hasn't changed appreciably. This is because the meager tuition aid they do give out meets this group's needs. The group shrinking is families making between $35,000 and $100,000. They are being replaced by families making over $100,000.

Using the 7%-10% rule of thumb, if your tuition is $4,000, and a family taking home, say, $90,000, has 2 children enrolled, they will be having difficulty paying tuition. ($90K yields about $6K/month take-home. 7% of that, $420/month = the stress point.)

Help Families Find Additional Income

It is not unusual for a school to not have enough tuition aid money to help all families to the extent that they need help.

Many schools have addressed this problem by reserving part time employment opportunities within the school for applicant families. At least, give them a hiring priority. There are numerous jobs that could be reserved for these families, such as: housekeeping, teacher's aid, maintenance, kitchen, bus driver, special school projects, or special maintenance projects.

Schools can also minister to these families by developing a system for keeping tabs on part time employment opportunities within the community. There are many ways to do this. One suggestion is to ask either your church families or your school families to complete a form that tells you about opportunities they are aware of, along with a contact person and phone number.

You will need to be diligent to keep these up to date, asking for these referrals on a regular basis. These can be posted on your website for any family needing a little extra income to view.