Tuition Assistance

At The IDEAL School, we believe a family’s finances should not prevent a child from accessing an independent school education. We also believe socioeconomic diversity strengthens our community, and we have created a generous tuition assistance program to ensure accepted students are able to attend IDEAL.

For the 2011-2012 school year, the tuition for The IDEAL School’s standard program is $34,800. Each year, 42% of the school’s gross revenue – nearly $2,000,000 – is given out as tuition assistance to students in this program. At IDEAL, 43% of students receive financial aid awards, with the average grant covering 85% of tuition.

Tuition assistance is offered to accepted students on the basis of financial need and the availability of funds. Decisions on financial aid are made independent of the admission decision and do not affect a student’s application. There are no merit-based financial aid awards.

The IDEAL School requires families applying for financial aid to use the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS), a service of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). The IDEAL School's SSS code is 4255. Requests for financial aid must be made each year before December 1st. To apply for financial aid, new and returning families should follow these steps:

1. Fill out a financial aid request card
2. Someone at the school will send you the necessary instructions to complete your application
3. After your application for tuition assistance is reviewed, someone at the school will inform you of the final decision