Budget tuition aid 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.