How much do Australian Private Schools Cost?

Private school tuition fees vary considerably across Australia, however you may expect to pay anywhere between $18,000 and $31,000 for a Year 12 day student attending an established, well regarded metropolitan private school in 2013 - with boarding fees in addition.  Most schools do, however, provide a discount of some form for families where multiple children attend the same school.

Fee Comparisons 
 

To provide some additional detail, the table below provides an indication of school fees payable at some well known colleges across Australia for Year 12 students. These are generally prestigious schools and their fees are at the very top end of the range - Catholic schools are usually appreciably less expensive.  The table illustrates some considerable differences in fees between Melbourne and Sydney and other mainland state capitals, although this seems to be narrowing. Compulsory levies have been included in fee comparisons where identifiable and possible - IT and "Tablet" levies are currently very common. At least one school now includes "voluntary donations" within fee invoices - at this stage we will flag these situations rather than include them in direct comparisons.

The trend over recent years has been for the increase in private school fees to significantly exceed wage and wider inflation; with compound increases of over 6% being common amongst the better known schools, effectively doubling the cost of private education every decade. Schools quote this as the "education inflation rate", but whatever the major cost drivers - and they are certainly salary and labour costs - we do not regard this as a sustainable model and believe that it will inevitably cause major problems. This is particularly if there any significant changes to public education funding - so parents need to consider carefully the financial position of potential schools. Obviously, school fees also need to be very carefully considered within your financial planning if you are committed to the private school system - in many situations the cost of sending two children through an Australian private school will exceed AUD500K.

It may seem pointless to include schools in the comparison who do not make their fees public. However, we question whether a school's reluctance to publish its fees is consistent with their receiving any level of public funding. For the moment, there also seems to be a direct relationship between the absolute level of fees and the unwillingness of a school to publish them.

Non- Residents : Private School Costs
 

The difference between private school fees for resident and a non-residents can be quite substantial; the figures below are those applying in relation to an Anglican Church Grammar Year 12 boarder, and they are fairly representative:
 

Additional Costs

Apart from the cost of school fees, the cost of attendance at an Australian private school includes a range of potential additional costs.  A summarised, but by no means exhaustive, list of costs split into non-recurring and recurring costs appears below:

Non – Recurring
 

• Application Fee – circa $50 to $200
• Enrolment Fee – circa $500 to $2,500 and may be higher. For example, Christ Church charges a non-refundable/non-tax deductible fee of $5,705 for admission.
• Non Interest Bearing Loans – may increase as a child progresses through the school

Recurring
 

• Building Levies – Compulsory or Voluntary
• Compulsory purchase of IT equipment - laptops and tablets
• Additional subject costs eg. music, language, sports tuition
• Special Programme costs
• School Camps and Trips
• Uniforms
• Musical equipment hire
• School bus services
• Book charges
• Pre and After-school care costs
• Fundraising support (voluntary)
• International Baccalaureate levies