Tuition Pricing Calculator
Work out what tuition to charge - the number that actually covers your costs, builds a small reserve, and holds up after financial aid. Free, no account required.
Your numbers
Everything it costs to run the school for a year: staffing, facility, program, admin.
Enrollment you're spreading the cost across.
Per-student ESA/voucher, grants, and fundraising - anything that isn't tuition.
Share of sticker tuition you give back as aid. Many schools run 10-25%.
A small operating surplus builds reserves. 3-5% is a healthy start.
Usually 10 (school year) or 12 (monthly) - sets the monthly figure.
Tuition result
Tuition to charge (sticker)
$9,222 / year
≈ $922/mo
- Cost per student
- $10,000
- Net tuition / student (after aid)
- $8,300
- Tuition revenue collected
- $498,000
How it's calculated
Sticker tuition = (cost per student × (1 + surplus%) − other revenue per student) ÷ (1 − aid rate). The first part is the net tuition each student must generate; dividing by (1 − aid rate) grosses it up so that, after you give some tuition back as financial aid, you still net enough.
How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your total annual operating cost
Everything it costs to run the school for a year - staffing, facility, program, and admin.
- 2
Enter enrollment and other revenue
The number of students you're spreading cost across, and any per-student revenue that isn't tuition (ESA/voucher, grants, fundraising).
- 3
Set your aid rate and reserve target
Your financial-aid/discount rate and the small operating surplus you want to build reserves.
- 4
Read your tuition
The calculator works backward to the sticker tuition you'd set, what you actually net per student after aid, and the monthly figure families would see.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate what tuition to charge?
Start from cost per student (total annual cost ÷ students), add your target surplus, and subtract non-tuition revenue per student - that's the net tuition each student must generate. Then divide by (1 − your aid rate) to get the sticker price, because a share of tuition is given back as financial aid.
What is tuition discounting?
Tuition discounting is the share of your gross (sticker) tuition you give back as financial aid or scholarships, so you never collect it. If your sticker tuition is $12,500 and your aid rate is 20%, you net $10,000 per student. Many private and faith-based schools run a 10–25% discount rate.
Should I build a surplus into tuition?
Yes. Pricing to exactly break even leaves nothing for reserves or surprises. A small operating surplus - 3–5% is a healthy start - is how schools build the cushion that carries them through a slow enrollment year or a delayed grant.
Why is my required tuition $0?
If your non-tuition revenue per student (ESA/voucher, grants, fundraising) already covers your cost per student plus your surplus target, you don't need tuition to break even. That's common for fully ESA/voucher-funded models.
Want the full picture?
Tuition is one lever in a full budget. Check the enrollment side with the free break-even enrollment calculator, or build a complete five-year model with SchoolStack Budget.
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