playvolutionHQ Logo

Creating & Curating Collections Of Early Learning Resources

Playvolution HQ


Join Mailing List

Discounts And Scholarships

Discounts And Scholarships

Discounts And Scholarships Overview

This post looks at policy relating to discounts and scholarships with regard to tuition: that is, ways in which you might end up charging less for tuition in certain circumstances.

This post is intended to spark reflection and suggest ways of addressing the topic covered when writing or updating policies and procedures. Your policies and procedures should be written to meet your program’s needs and unique circumstances.
Browse More Policy & Procedure Resources Here

For discounts and scholarships, there are no hard and fast rules. You might offer several or both, or you might not offer any of either.

Discounts

When deciding to offer a discount for tuition, remember that it is mostly a marketing tool: tuition discounts mean your program doesn’t make as much money, so it has to encourage potential families to enroll.

Some common discounts for tuition include:

  • Sibling discount— A discount for one or several students from the same family
  • Lump sum discount— A discount for families that choose to pay tuition in a lump sum at the beginning of the year instead of monthly/weekly
  • Employee discount— A discount for the children of staff that work at the center or its affiliates
  • Career discount— A discount for the children of individuals in certain careers, such as military or first-responders

Related Posts

These related posts may be of interest:

Scholarships

Scholarships can be a tremendous benefit to individuals that might not otherwise be able to afford your program. Generally, scholarships are established with a specific need in mind, and they have explicit criteria (for example, demonstrated financial need.)

Offering a scholarship requires a steady stream of funds that can ensure the cost of the scholarship is covered in the operating budget. You might fund-raise specifically for the scholarship fund throughout the year, build the scholarship fund into the budget, or only establish the scholarship after a large donation.

Depending on your goals for the scholarship, you will need to write clear instructions on the purpose of the scholarship and how to apply for it, then create guidelines for how the scholarship is awarded. Who is eligible for the scholarship, and what do they need to provide in their application? How will the information be kept confidential? Many scholarships have committees to review applications – who will be on yours? After the scholarship is awarded, how will awardees be notified, and how will those who did not get the scholarship be told? How will scholarship funds be awarded? At what point does the scholarship cease? How many times can the same family be awarded the same scholarship?

Where To Include

At Playvolution HQ, we recommend using the Three Handbook Method. Consider adding this policy to your Parent Handbook.

Considerations

  • Check with your local licensing agency to make sure there are no specific policies about discounts and scholarships you need to be aware of.
  • Be very, very clear about how much your discounts and scholarships will cover, if you can utilize more than one discount or scholarship, and when they start and stop.
  • Making scholarship or discount-specific materials that require a parent’s signature can be useful for ensuring that they understand the agreement.

Sample Policies

NOTE: The following samples are real-world examples relating to this post’s topic and are provided as a reference for creating your own policies and procedures. Sharing them here is not a recommendation of their content.

Sample 1

Discounts
·         ‘Full week’ (i.e. Monday to Friday 8.15-4.30pm) attendance discount: 10% of fees.
·         Sibling discount: 10% of fees for those enrolled at the same time.
·         Introduce a friend: An offer (per time) of free 4 hours if an introduced friend takes up enrollment.

Rangi Ruru Preschool, New Zealand

Sample 2

There is a 5% discount for tuition paid in full by May for the upcoming school year. Families with more than one child enrolled in Beach Day will receive a 5% discount on the youngest child’s tuition. Only one discount applies – 5% for more than one child OR 5% for payment in full.

We DO have a limited amount of tuition assistance available based on need.  You will need to talk to the Director and be approved on a YEARLY basis. This information will remain completely confidential.  Deadline for requesting tuition assistance is May 1st.

Beach Day School, Virginia, USA

Sample 3

A 10% discount for siblings is available to families with more than one child enrolled at CMP. The discount will be applied to the lower tuition.

Carmel Mountain Preschool, California, USA

Related Content

Brought to you by Explorations Early Learning
Contribute content to Playvolution HQ

Stay Updated

Receive regular play, professional development, and caregiver self-care updates.

Author

Student, teacher.

Thanks To Our Patrons

This post was made possible by patrons like these, who generously fund our work:

Supporters

Lissadell Greene      Stephanie Goloway

Lagina Kozak      Michelle Hankins

Fans

Jen Flemming      Lizz Nolasco

Susan Warner      Kelly Sigalove

Vittoria Jimerson      Codee Gilbert

Monica Morrell      Pam Soloman      Melissa Franklin

Teresa Watson      Erika Felt

Melissa Taylor      Jahmeela Robinson

Amber Maurina      Terra Calamari

Lagina Kozak      Samantha Yeager-Cheevers

Elizebeth McCoy      Sammy Cousens      Ellen Cogan

Explore Membership Options


Play Haven

Join Play Haven


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Don`t copy text!