Private Schools with Financial Aid

Finding loans, tuition relief and scholarships

Parents of children attending a private school may require financial aid to fund their children's education. When you are paying at least $5000 for private school tuition or up to $40,000 for boarding school, you should look into all your options. Banks are willing to offer personal loans or credit extensions but going to the bank does not have to be parents' first choice.

Many schools will offer financial aid to parents that may come in the form of a loan or it may be straight tuition relief - tuition reduction that comes from a fund set up for just that reason.

If you have already applied to a private school and are just now looking for financial aid, you should know about one important book on the subject: Laurie Blum's Free Money for Private Schools.

Our Kids Go to School offers listings of private schools offering financial aid.

Types of private school financial aid

For a typical private or independent school, financial aid and tuition assistance comes in one of three forms:

• need-based financial aid
• merit awards (scholarships)
• tuition relief programs

Tuition payment plans might also be considered a form of financial aid although they usually only cover the year that your child is in school.

There are some tax breaks available to parents who send their children to private schools. Some provinces allow parents to claim part of their private school tuition as a charitable donation. (This is only fair as private school parents pay municipal taxes that support public schools.)

There are also numerous other resources. For example, parents in Ontario and Alberta can tap into Children First, a program provided by the Fraser Institute.