THE BARATELLI INSTITUTE · Mentoring at Scale
FOR PARENTS · K-12 SCHOOL CHOICE

Tuition is one line item. The total cost of private school is six others stacked on top.

Uniforms, technology, required field trips, capital contributions, activities, transport, and the property tax you're still paying for the public school you're not using. Then the real bill: the retirement-age opportunity cost of money invested instead. This tool builds the full year-by-year cost across K-12 per child and shows you what that money would be worth at age 65 if you'd invested it.

All-In
Annual cost
K-12
Per child total
At 65
Opportunity cost
Public+
Compare alternative
YOUR DECISION
1
The school
2
Required add-ons
3
Activities
4
Transport
5
Tax & results
STAGE 1 OF 5

The school type and tuition

Pick the closest type to what you're evaluating. Defaults reflect mid-tier nationwide averages — adjust to your specific situation.

School type
Public school
Free with property tax; you may add tutoring/enrichment
Catholic / parochial
Typically 30-50% of private day school cost
Private day school
Non-religious independent K-12
Boarding school
Residential, typically grades 9-12
Tool computes per-child and household totals.
If you're deciding for a 1st grader, 12 years. For a 9th grader, 4 years. Tool projects from age now through 12th grade.
Tuition by grade band

Most private schools price differently by grade band. Defaults below are mid-tier private day school nationwide averages.

Elementary grades. Catholic typical: $4-8K. Private day typical: $20-35K. Boarding K-5 uncommon.
$
Middle school. Often 5-15% higher than K-5. Catholic: $5-10K. Private day: $25-42K.
$
High school. Catholic: $10-18K. Private day: $30-55K. Boarding: $55-75K all-in.
$
Independent schools typically raise tuition 4-7% annually. NAIS reports 5.2% median 2023. Use your school's recent trajectory.
%
What this tool measures. Tuition is line one. Most parents make the private/public decision based on that number. Real all-in cost — uniforms, books, technology, required field trips, capital contributions, activities, transport, after-school care, tutoring, summer programs — typically adds 25-45% on top. Then the opportunity cost: same money compounded at age 65 in retirement accounts. We'll build the full picture across the next four stages.
STAGE 2 OF 5

Required add-ons — what's actually mandatory

The line items that appear on every parent's invoice but never on the school's marketing brochure.

Polos, skirts, dress shoes, blazers, athletic uniforms. Required at most private + catholic schools. Even "soft" dress codes drive a $400-800 annual spend.
$
Required textbooks, workbooks, supplies, lab fees. $200-500 at most schools annually.
$
Annual amortization. Required device program (often MacBook or iPad), $800-2000 every 3-4 years. Annual $300-600 typical.
$
Class trips, "Outdoor Ed" weeks, NYC/DC trips, international trips for upper grades. Average $400-1500/year, with peak years (8th grade DC, 11th grade international) much higher.
$
The "annual fund" ask. Schools have annual giving expectations — sometimes published as suggested ranges ($1-5K), sometimes implicit. Capital campaigns add another $1-10K periodic ask. Default conservative.
$
Parent association membership, class-parent dues, fundraising auction "buy-in" expectations. $200-1000/year typical at private schools.
$
$100-300 application; $500-2000 re-enrollment deposit each spring. Annualized.
$
School store, yearbook, photo, athletic boosters, anything else billed annually.
$
STAGE 3 OF 5

Activities — the discretionary stack that isn't actually discretionary

Once you're at a competitive private school, activities are not optional. Other kids do them. Your kid will too.

Pay-to-play. Private schools commonly charge $300-1000 per sport per season. Two sports/year = $600-2000. Travel sports outside school: $2-5K. Defaults to one sport plus modest travel.
$
Instrument rental ($300-800/yr) + private lessons ($30-100/wk × 30 wks = $900-3000) + ensemble fees. Defaults to moderate level.
$
$80-200/hr is the going rate for private SAT/ACT tutoring; $60-150 for subject tutoring. Most college-bound HS students do 30-60 hours of test prep. Defaults to ~20 hours/year average across K-12.
$
If both parents work, summer programming is structural ($3-8K). If you don't need full-summer coverage, "enrichment camps" still run $1-4K (sports camps, academic summer programs).
$
Debate, model UN, robotics, theater, mock trial. $200-1500/yr each. Defaults to one+ activity.
$
Activity costs tend to rise 3-5% annually — service-cost economics.
%
STAGE 4 OF 5

Transport — the time tax and the dollar tax

Private school is rarely walking-distance. Bus fees, parent driving time (real opportunity cost), and after-school care all stack up.

Private school buses are typically NOT free. $1,000-3,500/yr is the going range. Set to 0 if you carpool/drive.
$
Most private schools offer after-care from school dismissal to 6 PM. $4,000-8,000/yr typical. Critical if both parents work.
$
Round-trip drop-off and pickup. If you drive 30 min each way, 5 days/week = 5 hours. Multiplied by ~36 weeks/year.
Reasonable estimate of what your time is worth — gross hourly income, or what you'd pay someone else for it. Conservative default $50.
$
If you drive daily, additional miles cost real money. Rough proxy: 100 mi/wk × 36 wks × $0.65/mi = $2,340.
$
Time has real value but isn't a cash outflow. Toggle to include or exclude in the headline TCO.
STAGE 5 OF 5

Tax impact & the opportunity cost

The taxes you still pay even if you're not using the public school. The K-12 529 strategy where available. And what the same money would be worth at age 65.

A meaningful share of your property tax funds local public schools (~50-60% nationally). If you're paying private tuition AND property tax, this is a "double pay" not visible on the school invoice. We don't subtract it — but we surface it as context.
$
Local average. Suburban districts: 50-65%. Rural: 30-50%. Urban: 25-45%. Defaults to typical suburban.
%
Federal law allows $10K/yr of 529 funds for K-12 tuition (TCJA 2017). Most state-deduction states ALSO allow K-12 use, but not all (NY, CA, OR notably restrict; check yours). If yes and you take the state deduction, your effective K-12 tuition cost drops by ~5% (the deduction value).
Your effective tax savings rate on K-12 contributions. Often equals your state marginal rate. Defaults to 5%.
%
If you invested the difference instead, what real (after-inflation) return would you earn? 5-7% is reasonable long-horizon for a balanced portfolio. Used to compute "what this would be worth at age 65."
%
Used to project to age 65. If you're 40 today and a tuition payment is made in year 5, that money compounds for 20 more years.
WANT THE METHODOLOGY BEHIND THIS TOOL?
This calculator pairs with Money Reality HS Edition and Family Office Guide.
The tool gives you the TCO. The guides give you the decision — how to evaluate whether the private-school premium actually correlates with college outcomes for YOUR kid, financial-aid screening protocols, the catholic-as-middle-option playbook, and the multi-generational funding strategy (grandparent §2503(e) direct tuition payment).
Methodology references: Money Reality HS Edition Ch 5 (School selection economics) and FO Guide Ch 7 (Multi-generational education funding).
Read Money Reality HS Edition → Browse all guides
PROFESSIONAL DISCLAIMER · PLEASE READ

Educational and informational purposes only. This calculator and any output it produces are intended solely for general educational and decision-support purposes. They do not constitute investment, tax, legal, accounting, or any other professional advice.

Estimates based on your inputs. All results are estimates derived from your inputs. School tuition rates, inflation, financial-aid policies, K-12 529 state conformity, and tax rules change. The defaults in this tool reflect typical mid-tier private schools nationally and may not match your specific school.

Consult your own qualified professionals. This is not tax, legal, or financial advice. State 529 rules, FAFSA rules, tax credits, and childcare regulations change. Verify current rules with a CPA, financial aid office, or the IRS before relying on any number.