Freedom Christian Schools

Q. What is the difference between a multi-child tuition discount and needs based tuition assistance?

A. Many private schools offer multi-child tuition discounts as a way of helping families afford tuition as the number of school age children increases over time. This is, in essence, a form of tuition assistance since the cost to educate each child does not change. However, this form of tuition assistance is tied to how big your family is and not whether you need assistance or not.

At Freedom Christian Schools, we offer a Needs Based Tuition Assistance program that seeks to provide tuition assistance to those who need it most! We utilize a 3rd party, professional organization to assess the financial need and then we use their recommendations as the basis for granting tuition assistance funds. Please note that Freedom never asks for or sees your personal financial data.

By moving to a Needs Based Tuition Assistance program, Freedom has been able to offer many more families the ability to have their children in Christian Education than would otherwise be possible under a multi-child tuition discount program. For the 2009-2010 school year, Freedom has been able to grant some level of tuition assistance to over 50% of our families.

If you would like more information about Freedom’s Needs Based Tuition Assistance program, please contact the Administrative office at 616-669-2270.

Q. How does Freedom set tuition rates?

A. Tuition rates at Freedom are reviewed each year by the Finance Committee. They look at many factors such as historical tuition rates, local and regional private school tuition rates, operational expenses of the school, etc – all with an eye toward keeping tuition as low as possible while still maintaining a standard of excellence in the programs made available at Freedom. The Finance Committee then makes recommendations to the School Board who ultimately approves any tuition rate changes.

Q. Do the tuition rates cover the operating expenses of the school?

A. Yes. If everyone were able to pay full tuition, we would have enough revenue to cover 100% of our operating expenses as well as pay down our current debt.

Q. Where does the money come from to support tuition assistance?

A. Approximately 50% of our current families, including faculty and staff, receive some level of tuition assistance from Freedom. For the last 2 school years, the total amount of tuition assistance provided to Freedom Families exceeded $1,000,000. Since this money will not be received in tuition revenue needed to meet our operating expenses, it must be made up through the fund raising efforts of the school. The tuition assistance monies are NOT provided by FFNA.

Q. What if the fund raising efforts do not bring in enough money to pay for all the tuition assistance?

A. The burden to do fund-raising has increased significantly over the past several years, putting Freedom under a lot of financial pressure. The efforts it takes to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars each year is more than a full time job. Unfortunately, we do not have a full time staff position that focuses entirely on fund raising efforts. This responsibility falls mainly upon our Development Director along with a small group of volunteers who assist him. We ultimately put our trust in God and He has shown Himself faithful as we are faithful to be good stewards with that which He has entrusted to us. Last year, we launched a 3 year capital campaign called “Freeing Freedom” to ultimately provide a more stable income of charitable gifts as God’s people make financial commitments for the next 3 years.

Q. How does the school debt impact the overall financial situation of the school?

A. Freedom Christian Schools has outstanding debt totaling just under $2M. The majority of this debt was brought on in 1998 with the addition of the High School gym. The annual operating budget includes $150,000 in principle and interest payments which represents 8% of our total operating budget. It is our desire to pay off this debt as quickly as possible through the Freeing Freedom capital campaign.

Q. How does enrollment impact the overall financial situation of the school?

A. The enrollment numbers at Freedom have been relatively steady for the past several years in the 300 – 350 student range. For the 2009/2010 school year, we started the year with approximately 310 students enrolled. We praise God for these numbers as we have seen most of the area Christian schools experiencing significant decreases in their enrollment. At 310 students, we are only utilizing 62% of our total capacity. Therefore, by increasing our enrollment, we will see additional revenue without any significant increases to our operational budgets. Our goal is to increase the student enrollment to 450 students over the next 3 years.

Q. How is the amount of tuition assistance determined?

A. Freedom uses an outside agency and process known as the Family Financial Needs Assessment or FFNA. A family can obtain an information pack at the administrative office of the school which contains an application form that is filled out and sent to the outside agency. Based on each family’s unique financial situation, FFNA provides a recommendation to the Freedom Business Office on the amount of tuition assistance each family should receive. The Freedom Business Office does NOT receive any financial information about a family – this is strictly private between FFNA and the family. Freedom only receives the recommended amount of financial assistance.

Q. How does FFNA calculate their recommendations for financial assistance?

A. Once a family’s income exceeds $42,000, their Freedom tuition must be at least 10% of their income to qualify for tuition assistance. Please reference the FFNA website (www.ffna1.com) for additional information.

Q. Does FFNA provide the tuition assistance funds to Freedom?

A. No. The role of FFNA is to provide a fair and unbiased recommendation of a family’s ability to pay for tuition. The tuition assistance funds are provided primarily through charitable giving to the school.

Q. Is the FFNA process unique to Freedom Christian Schools?

A. No. FFNA is a national organization that does financial needs analysis for over 500 schools across the United States. You can visit their website at www.ffna1.com.

Q. Does Freedom use the recommendations from FFNA?

A. Historically, Freedom has used the recommendations provided by FFNA for financial assistance whenever possible. Based on the trends of the past several years, we may have to place limits on the amount of financial assistance based on the availability of charitable giving to Freedom.

Q. Are there any deadlines for completing the FFNA applications?

A. All FFNA applications must be completed and sent in by May 1st in order to be considered for financial assistance. This allows FFNA a 30 day window to process the application and provide a recommendation to the Freedom Business Office. Final tuition assistance decisions need to be made and communicated in the month of June to give parents ample time to make their final decisions before the first payments are made in July for the new school year. These dates are EXTREMELY important to adhere to if you want to be considered for tuition assistance.

Q. Are there other ways to help offset tuition costs?

A. YES! Freedom Christian Schools offers a new family referral program that provides existing families with a $500 tuition credit for referring new families to Freedom. This credit is applied to your final payment in June. Freedom also participates in the T.R.I.P. program that allows parents the ability to get a portion of their normal household expenses back in the form of a rebate that is applied towards tuition. See the Freedom Administrative Office for more information regarding the T.R.I.P. program.

Q. What if I can’t afford to pay the tuition, even after I am granted tuition assistance?

A. We realize that tuition costs are sometimes out of reach for some families, even after receiving tuition assistance. Our desire is that all eligible students would be able to experience the Christ centered, Classical education at Freedom Christian Schools. Many of our families sacrifice a certain standard of living in order to make their tuition payments because they realize the long term value of a Freedom education. Our approach is to partner with each family to explore multiple avenues for helping meet the financial challenges of private education. This can be in the form of encouraging the families to seek assistance from within their extended family (grandparents, aunts & uncles, etc), looking for potential barter opportunities and if needed, seeking school board approval for exceptional cases.

Q. What if I have other questions regarding tuition assistance at Freedom Christian Schools?

A. Please feel free to contact the Freedom Business Office at any time by calling 616-669-2270 if you have additional questions.