There's a difference between paying full price and paying full cost.
All private schools have a gap between their actual per student cost (achieved by dividing the school's total operating budget expense by the school's total enrollment) and what they charge in tuition and fees per student. That gap is made up (or, in some cases, not made up) primarily through charitable fundraising. The argument can be made that EVERY STUDENT in a private school receives financial aid because of that gap.
Some kids come from families that can't pay the full tuition charge. In that case, they apply for financial aid. Rare, and I mean VERY RARE, do you find families that pay nothing or even next to nothing due to financial need. I don't know what Loyola does now, but I know that, at one point not too long ago, they never gave any student more than 50% of total tuition in the form of financial aid. Private schools want families to have some skin in the game. They want them to sacrifice. They want them to VALUE the education and the overall experience. Also, private schools can't survive financially if they give away the store to everyone or to most kids who walk inside the doors. Tuition revenue is by far the largest slice of the overall revenue pie for private schools. Reducing that tuition revenue stream with enrollment and expenses staying the same increases the size of the gap explained in the paragraph above. That, in turn, puts extra pressure on fundraising to make up the difference. If the fundraising doesn't bridge that gap, then the school incurs a deficit.
All private schools have a gap between their actual per student cost (achieved by dividing the school's total operating budget expense by the school's total enrollment) and what they charge in tuition and fees per student. That gap is made up (or, in some cases, not made up) primarily through charitable fundraising. The argument can be made that EVERY STUDENT in a private school receives financial aid because of that gap.
Some kids come from families that can't pay the full tuition charge. In that case, they apply for financial aid. Rare, and I mean VERY RARE, do you find families that pay nothing or even next to nothing due to financial need. I don't know what Loyola does now, but I know that, at one point not too long ago, they never gave any student more than 50% of total tuition in the form of financial aid. Private schools want families to have some skin in the game. They want them to sacrifice. They want them to VALUE the education and the overall experience. Also, private schools can't survive financially if they give away the store to everyone or to most kids who walk inside the doors. Tuition revenue is by far the largest slice of the overall revenue pie for private schools. Reducing that tuition revenue stream with enrollment and expenses staying the same increases the size of the gap explained in the paragraph above. That, in turn, puts extra pressure on fundraising to make up the difference. If the fundraising doesn't bridge that gap, then the school incurs a deficit.
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