Is An Independent School Education Really Worth It?
As a former boarding and day school admission director I would dread the announcement coming from the trustees every January: Yet another tuition hike! When our boarding tuition started to approach the $20,000 milestone, I thought the bottom would fall out. How naïve! Today, many independent day school kindergarten tuitions are well over that, and boarding school tuitions are hovering in the $60,000+ range.
Cost As A Barrier to Consideration
The Image Audits we conduct for schools include questions relating to cost vs. perceived value. Predictably, the answers from prospective families point to the high cost of independent schools as a major barrier to consideration. No surprise there. We all know that It takes a great deal of effort to get most families to take the leap of faith that the investment will eventually pay off, depending on how they define a “successful” return on their tuition dollars. Most prospects naturally choke when they consider price without any context that addresses value. But another picture comes into focus when we speak with former families and alumni:
“When we interview and survey recent alumni and former families, however, the perception of cost gets turned on its head. Typically, about 80% say that compared to its cost, the value of their independent school education was “far greater,” “somewhat greater,” or “about right.” Another 80% praise the overall quality of the education they received, and often over 90% of alumni say they were better prepared for the next level of education than their peers who attended other types of schools.”
In hindsight, graduates of independent schools and their families appreciate how much their foundational school experience made a difference in their later education and life AFTER the fact. Prospective and current families are caught up in the sacrifice required in the present and immediate future. It’s no surprise that they would tend to think tuition is too high, or may not be worth it.
It’s important, of course, for schools to offer generous affordability options, but before you do, we recommend exploring them via our financial services to determine how they will affect your overall operations. Value and price are two sides of the same coin.
Prove The Value
The key takeaways and action items for enrollment managers and marketers are simple:
Identify those alumni and former families who have returned high net promoter scores or those who have rated the tuition as worth the cost.
Encourage those families to tell their personal stories about the specific value they accrued and how the foundation they received “paid off “in ways expected and unexpected. To be effective, their testimony must be highly personal and detailed to counter prospects and current families who tend to focus primarily on price.
Prepare high-quality videos, blogs, and other content featuring those former student and family testimonials and make sure they appear on any website page that mentions tuition and fees. Pepper them throughout your website; use them in direct mail and social media. Let those former customers, who are literally your “walking value proposition,” speak at admission events or current family events.
Reinforce and validate value year-round as seen through the eyes of your current and former “customers.” This is not just an enrollment message, but one for retention. Make sure those messages are coming from the mouths of your customers, not from the mouths of your school’s administrators.
“It seems so simple, yet when I search most school websites for evidence of value, I’m astonished by the number of schools that don’t highlight value through the testimony of their former families and alumni.”
Intersection of Finance and Marketing
We at Connor Associates are always laser-focused on helping our client independent schools prove that they are worth what they cost. Aside from value, tuition setting and strategic financial planning are the other half of the equation. When you have an opportunity, listen to the Sparkcast that received the most downloads last year from InspirED School Marketers: Finance and Marketing: Overlooked Alliance for Success, where Connor Associates’ Strategic Partner for Finance and Operations Thom Greenlaw and I discuss the critical intersection of marketing and finance at independent schools. It's a one-two punch—value and cost—that will ensure your school is resilient and sustainable into the future. See also my Marketing Therapy blog that inspired the Sparkcast.
This value/price question is a pivotal challenge facing all independent schools and colleges.
A word to the wise:
“Resist the urge to lower your tuition until you have a clear understanding of your cost per student and can mount a vigorous defense of your long-term value. ”
An Investment That Will Pay Off
The schools that overcome the price barrier are the ones that set tuition based on their own data (not what other schools are charging) and do a better job encouraging their alumni and former families to speak directly to the value they received. It must be in a language that a current or prospective parent needs to hear: Acknowledging the cost, but providing reassurance and validation that they are making the smartest, objectively proven, long-term investment in their child.
Can your school claim it is worth the cost? Prove it! Promote it!
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Connor Associates stakes its value on its experience with providing comprehensive services, including ensuring proof of ROI through Image Audits (reputational asset and risk management), Alumni and Alumni Parent Surveys, Enrollment Feasibility Studies which identify qualified appropriate prospects at rooftop level, Five-year enrollment Forecasts, Location Studies, Business Office Evaluations and Plans (pricing sensitivity, tuition analysis, benchmarking, reliable revenue streams, and capital management), Strategic Marketing Plans based on research, and onsite training and coaching to get everyone in your school and your trustees supporting enrollment, retention, and philanthropy.
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