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  CFS’s parent company, Development Testing Services, has been surveying Christian schools, churches and non-profits since 1993. Quite a number of schools survey their parents & employees every 2 or 3 years. DTS has also been conducting ACSI’s (Association of Christian Schools International) nationwide survey for nearly 10 years.

  From the massive amount of information collected over the years, we have learned a few facts about tuition, tuition assistance, and family financial needs.

  There has been a trend among Christian schools for several years towards cost based tuition. Cost based tuition is essentially this: charge what it actually costs to deliver your mission. This is really the smart way to go, providing the school also incorporates adequate tuition assistance and professional grant and aid management.

  In most schools this has not necessarily been the case. A quick summary of the facts is this: Christian schools have been raising tuition at about double the rate of inflation for nearly 10 years (averaging about 6% per yr compared to the CPI increasing at about 3% per yr). The percentage of school’s budgets for tuition aid has not increased substantially over the same period of time.

  The result we have seen is that between 5 and 10 years ago there was a significant decrease in the enrollment of lower-income families (those making under $35,000/year). Schools saw this taking place and began instituting scholarship services to help these families with financial need.

  Most schools did their financial aid assessment in-house. More and more schools eventually began turning to tuition aid and tuition management services, like CFA, FACTS, SMART, SSS, and FFNA. Although this may have given them more professional scholarship management, many were still reluctant or unable to increase their tuition assistance budget.

  Because of increasing tuition, and inadequate tuition assistance budgets, the past five years have seen a marked decrease in the percentage of families making $50,000 - $100,000 in Christian schools.

  The result? 10 years ago the majority of families enrolled in Christian schools made under $75,000, now in most schools the majority of families make over $100,000. Often the majority of families make over $150,000.

  As one administrator recently told us “lower and middle income families are the heartbeat of Christian education.” The character of a family making over $150,000 is markedly different from that of a family making under $75,000 – particularly if that family’s lower income is due to a commitment to prioritizing family over career.

  Because of the relationship with Development Testing Services, CFS/CFA has been a leader in educating schools on the need for providing adequate tuition aid for families making under $100,000 (check the ACSI survey menu bar for useful articles).

  Tuition assistance management and tuition collection management has become a larger and larger responsibility for Christian schools. Many find themselves hiring more staff and dedicating more resources to the management of their scholarship and tuition payment services.

  As a result, Christian schools are turning to professional tuition management services that provide grant and aid management as well as customized tuition payment options. This led to the CFS partnership with Stewardship Technology so that schools could benefit from the integrated programming of online school services, like: registration, tuition assistance assessment, tuition billing, tuition payment, and even online donation management.

  CFS / ST’s innovative programming provides a strongly encrypted and secure environment for your school’s tuition management systems.

  From one location parents can register for school, pay for their registration, apply for tuition assistance, view their tuition and fees, set up and make tuition payments online, even make donations online.

  Also, from one location schools can access each family’s registration information and documents, view their tuition assistance report, (in fact, manage their tuition assistance program), make the appropriate tuition aid award, custom-set tuition, and manage online donations! No need to keep moving between separate programs and services.

  No question it is a smart choice to choose a school and student service that integrates all these financial management needs in one highly secure location.

  In addition to this, CFS’s parent company, Development Testing Services is able to help you understand your school’s tuition and tuition assistance. DTS school surveys have helped numerous schools know if they can raise their tuition (and if not, what to do about it), how much they can raise it, and just how much to budget for tuition assistance to meet their families financial needs – for current families, as well as for marketing new families. DTS is committed to providing ministry professionals, like yourself, with effective decision-making solutions®.