The Ellis School

Admission

Tailored Tuition

Tailored Tuition is an inclusive affordability initiative designed to make an Ellis education accessible to a wide range of families.

The Tailored Tuition application is one application that includes all funding possibilities from the School. We make it easy for families by rolling all scholarships, grants, and financial aid into this one application that takes into consideration not only a family’s income, but their whole financial picture.

How It Works

Tailored Tuition makes it easier for families to get a clear picture of the level of tuition they would likely pay if their student attended Ellis. Applications for admission and applications for Tailored Tuition are considered separately, but they are meant to be completed at the same time. For families who are new to Ellis, both applications are due January 1. Any new applications submitted after the first round of decisions are considered on a rolling basis, as room in the class and remaining Tailored Tuition funds allow.

Tuition

Note: New for the 2024–2025 school year, lunch and snack are included in the tuition for kindergarten through grade 12. While lunch is not included for pre-kindergarten students, they may order from an age-appropriate list of a la carte options. Snack will continue to be offered for our pre-kindergarten students at no additional cost.
In order to support the greatest number of students overall, Tailored Tuition funds are focused on students entering the Middle and Upper Schools (grades 5–12). That means that families applying to the Lower School (pre-kindergarten to grade 4) can expect to contribute at least half of each year’s tuition, or plan to apply for grade 5 when more Tailored Tuition funds become available. Please also note that the first column in the chart below shows the Top Tuition for each grade, while the second column shows the possible range of tuition for families that qualify for Tailored Tuition.

Lower School
Grade Top Tuition 2024–2025 Range of Tailored Tuition*
Pre-kindergarten (5 Half-days) $12,650 $9,250–$13,665
Pre-kindergarten (2 Full/3 Half-days) $15,100
Pre-kindergarten (3 Full/2 Half-days) $16,100
Pre-kindergarten (5 Full days) $18,500
Kindergarten $22,000 $11,000–$20,000
Grades 1–4 $27,000 $13,500–$21,700
Middle School
Grade Top Tuition 2024–2025 Range of Tailored Tuition*
Grade 5 $30,000 $4,000–$22,400
Grades 6–8 $31,710 $2,000–$25,500
Upper School
Grade Top Tuition 2024–2025 Range of Tailored Tuition*
Grades 9–12 $35,910 $2,000–$29,150

*The maximum rate of Tailored Tuition available in pre-kindergarten through grade 4 is 50% of the Top Tuition. In other words, all families are expected to contribute a minimum of $9,250 in pre-kindergarten, $11,000 in kindergarten, and $13,500 in grades 1–4. If those rates of tuition are not within your family’s budget at this time, we encourage you to plan ahead and apply for grade 5 when lower rates of Tailored Tuition are available.

Get a Better Idea of Your Family's Tuition

In Practice

Family A

One working parent, two Middle School applicants


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  • Details

    • Total Annual Household Income: $70,000
    • Annual Housing Expenses: $6,864
    • Tailored Tuition: $1,049 per student, or $2,098 total
    • Grandparent Contribution: $5,000 per student, or $10,000 total
      • Revised Tailored Tuition: $6,049 per student, or $12,098 total

Family B

Two working parents, one Lower School applicant, one child in non-tuition-charging school

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  • Details

    • Total Annual Household Income: $120,000
    • Annual Housing Expenses: $18,000
    • Annual Child Care Expenses: $4,000
    • Tailored Tuition: $12,527

Family C

Two working parents, two applicants to Upper School, one child in college

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  • Details

    • Total Annual Household Income: $175,000
    • Annual Housing Expenses: $12,792
    • Annual Retirement Savings: $19,000 (max pre-tax contribution)
    • Annual College Tuition Contribution: $8,500 (balance covered by student loans)
    • Tailored Tuition: $8,592 per student, or $25,777 total

Family D

Two working parents, one applicant to Middle School, one applicant to Upper School

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  • Details

    • Total Annual Household Income: $250,000
    • Annual Housing Expenses: $28,080
    • Annual Student Loan Payments: $9,000
    • Tuition: Top Tuition of $30,200 for Middle School applicant and $34,200 for Upper School applicant

Payment Plans

The Ellis School is committed to partnering with families to ensure a smooth tuition payment process throughout each school year. Families may select one of three payment plan options offered by the School: the one-payment, two-payment, or ten-payment plan. Families select a payment plan when they submit the Evergreen Enrollment Statement. A different payment plan can be selected for a subsequent year during the Annual Re-enrollment Window.

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  • Ten-payment Plan

    This plan is comprised of ten payments dividing the annual tuition into installments beginning in June and ending in March. Tuition insurance through A.W.G. Dewar, Inc. and payment through FACTS Tuition Management Service are required for this payment plan. The five percent enrollment deposit is due upon submission of the Evergreen Enrollment Statement and is applied to the final tuition payment in March. The annual nonrefundable FACTS fee ($50 for the Ten-Payment Plan) and tuition insurance fees will be withdrawn via FACTS alongside your second tuition payment in July.

  • Two-payment Plan

    This plan is comprised of two payments dividing the annual tuition with 60 percent due by July 31 and the balance of 40 percent due by January 1. Tuition insurance through A.W.G. Dewar, Inc. and payment through FACTS Tuition Management Service are required for this payment plan. The five percent enrollment deposit is due upon submission of the Evergreen Enrollment Statement and is applied to the final tuition payment in December. The annual nonrefundable FACTS fee ($20 for the Two-Payment Plan) and tuition insurance fees will be withdrawn via FACTS alongside your first tuition payment in July.

  • One-payment Plan

    This payment plan is comprised of one payment of the annual tuition by July 31. Tuition insurance through A.W.G. Dewar, Inc. is optional, though strongly recommended, for families who select this payment plan. Payment through FACTS Tuition Management Service is required. The five percent enrollment deposit is due upon submission of the Evergreen Enrollment Statement and is applied to the July payment. The annual nonrefundable FACTS fee ($20 for the One-Payment Plan) is withdrawn before the first payment and tuition insurance fees with be withdrawn via FACTS alongside the tuition payment in July.

  • Tuition Insurance

    Tuition insurance is available through A.W.G. Dewar, Inc. for all payment plans for a fee of 0.85% of your daughter’s tuition. This brochure details the plan’s coverage.

How to Apply

The application for admission and the application for Tailored Tuition through Clarity Tuition are separate but simultaneous. The application for admission is due January 1, and the Tailored Tuition application window runs from November 1 through December 15 for returning families and November 1 through January 1 for new families. Applications may be submitted on a rolling basis after January 1, but space and Tailored Tuition may be limited. The steps to apply are outlined below.

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  • 6. Submit Your Application Between November 1 & January 1

    Create or log in to your account with Clarity Tuition and complete the application, which will ask you about family size, total income, expenses (including unusual expenses), assets (including home equity), liabilities, and any other considerations.

    You may complete your application on a desktop/laptop or on your mobile phone, and you can save your progress to return later.

    *Please note: There is a $60 fee to submit the application. If you qualify for a fee waiver, the fee will be waived automatically by Clarity Tuition.


  • 7. Families With One Parent/Guardian or Multiple Households

    If your student's family includes multiple households, a Clarity application must be submitted by each household along with all required supporting documents in order to be considered for Tailored Tuition. Consideration of all available resources from both custodial and non-custodial parents/guardians and their spouses or live-in partners is based on the belief that a family’s contribution to education is a reflection of the ability, not the willingness, to contribute, which is NAIS’ (National Association of Independent Schools) best practice. All financial information is kept strictly confidential and at no time will one household have access to the others’ information.

    If your student’s household includes only one parent, we will send a document request through the Clarity Portal for the Second Parent/Guardian Waiver Request Form. Please complete and upload it to the Clarity portal under Additional Documents. Requests are approved in cases where the second parent has no involvement in the child’s life for reasons such as independent conception or widowhood.
     
    If your student’s family includes multiple households, a file is considered complete when the application and previous year tax returns (via Form 4506-C) are received from both parents, either jointly or separately.

  • 8. Submit Verification Tax Documents by April 20

    Please submit verification 2023 tax documents through the Clarity portal by April 20, 2024.

  • 9. Renew Annually

    Tailored Tuition is determined annually, and current Ellis parents must reapply each year through Clarity by December 15. Unless there is a significant change in annual income or available assets, families can expect a similar rate of Tailored Tuition from year to year.

Additional Costs of Attendance

Tuition covers all instruction, field trips, technology, classroom materials, and most co- and extracurricular activities. Beyond tuition, there are some additional expenses related to attendance, which are itemized below.

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  • After-school Care and Activities

    After-school child care, known as the Extended Day Program (EDP), is $605–$2,388 per year, depending on the number of days per week for which the student is registered. Beyond Extended Day, Ellis offers additional after-school enrichment opportunities, including after-school programs, athletics, and Ellis Music Academy. Fees for these activities are published each year, and pre-payment for Extended Day (excluding drop-ins), After-school Enrichment Classes, some athletics, and Ellis Music Academy are required. Fees apply for participation in trips for Pennsylvania Junior Classical League (PAJCL), Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS), Ski Club, and mini-courses.

  • Dining Services

    New for the 2024–2025 school year, lunch and snack are included in the tuition for kindergarten through grade 12. While lunch is not included for pre-kindergarten students, they may order from an age-appropriate list of a la carte options. Snack will continue to be offered for our pre-kindergarten students at no additional cost.

  • Testing Fees

    PSATs (which are $18) and AP exams (which range from $97–$145) are billed separately. (These rates are determined by The College Board and are subject to change.) Students who receive Tailored Tuition receive a proportional reduction to AP exam fees.

  • Textbooks and School Supplies

    School supplies are provided in Lower School; students in grades 5–12 are encouraged to budget $50–$150 per year for supplies depending on the student’s grade and course load. Textbooks are provided in Lower and Middle School; students in Upper School should budget $100–$350 per year for books depending on the student’s course load. Students in grades 6–12 must supply their own graphing calculator (around $100). Ellis offers a 1:1 device program in Middle and Upper School at no additional cost.

  • Tuition Management and Insurance Fees

    Enrollment in FACTS Tuition Management service is required. The fee for the ten-payment plan is $50; the fee for the two-payment plan is $20; the fee for the one-payment plan is $0. Tuition insurance through A.W.G. Dewar, Inc. is required for multi-payment plans, the fee for which is 0.85% of net tuition.

  • Uniforms and Merchandise

    Uniforms are required for students in kindergarten to grade 12. For new uniform items, including required physical education uniform items, families should budget up to $250; for gently used uniform and physical education items, families should budget up to $150.

  • Van Service

    If you reside in a school district that does not provide bus transportation for your daughter(s), van service that spans the greater Pittsburgh area is available. The per-student fee for Sewickley, Murrysville, South Hills, and Northern Communities (Pine Richland, South Butler, Southwest Butler, Quaker Valley, and Mars areas) is $4,600 per year for round trip and $2,300 per year for one way. Please note that van service pricing is subject to change.

Scholarships

The Ellis School is funded by tuition, fees, philanthropic support, income from the School’s endowment, and revenue from auxiliary programs. Tailored Tuition is supported in large part by endowed scholarships made in honor and memory of remarkable members of Ellis’ community. No additional application beyond the application for Tailored Tuition is required in order to be considered for these scholarships. At this time, Ellis does not offer any merit or athletic scholarships.

FAQs

Q: How is Tailored Tuition different than Financial Aid?

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    Tailored Tuition is an inclusive affordability initiative designed to make an Ellis education accessible to a wide range of families and to make it easier for families to get a clear picture of the level of tuition they would likely pay if their daughter attended Ellis. In a traditional financial aid model, it can be hard for a family to know whether they would qualify for aid and, if they would, what their rate of tuition would be. For lots of families, this can be a deterrent to pursuing the admission application process, even if they are certain their daughters would thrive at Ellis. Tailored Tuition is designed so families can envision their daughters at Ellis with the certainty that The Ellis School partners with all families to determine the rate of Tailored Tuition that is sustainable for them.

Q: Is my application confidential?

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    Yes. Clarity Tuition  is a highly secure provider of financial review services for independent schools across the country. All of the information you provide, including the required and supplemental documents, is kept in the strictest confidence.

Q: How is Tailored Tuition different for families applying for Lower School (pre-k–4)?

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    The minimum rate of Tailored Tuition available in pre-kindergarten through grade 4 is 50% of the Top Tuition. Families who complete the Clarity Tuition application and demonstrate that they can reasonably commit to 50% or more of the Top Tuition will be considered for Tailored Tuition. Families who would require a lower rate of Tailored Tuition are encouraged to explore community-based scholarships or to revisit Ellis for grade 5 when lower rates of Tailored Tuition are available.

Q: What if we are paying tuition for more than one child?

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    Tailored Tuition is designed to ensure that the total tuition that each family pays is the right fit. When applications are reviewed, the tuition per child, as well as the total tuition per family, are considered. When a family has multiple students applying to or enrolled at Ellis, the application takes into account the commitment this represents.

Q: My daughter is a returning Ellis student and we have not applied for Tailored Tuition in the past. Are we eligible?

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    Returning families who have never applied for Tailored Tuition may apply due to a change in circumstances, such as an additional child applying to Ellis, a reduction in income, job loss, extenuating circumstances, etc. Returning families may also apply if tuition levels in higher grade levels become unsustainable for their budget. Applications for returning students must be submitted through Clarity Tuition between November 1 and December 15 in order to be considered for the next school year.

Q: Does every family need to submit an application?

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    Families who wish to be considered for Tailored Tuition must submit an application through Clarity Tuition. Families who intend to pay the Top Tuition and do not require Tailored Tuition do not need to apply.

Q: When is Tailored Tuition determined?

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    Applications for Tailored Tuition should be submitted by December 15 for current families and by January 1 for new families. For families applying for admission to Ellis, admission decisions and Tailored Tuition are shared in early February for applicants to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and in early March for applicants to grades 1 through 12. Applications completed outside this timeline will be considered on a rolling admission basis and may be subject to limited space or Tailored Tuition. For returning Ellis families, Tailored Tuition is included in each family's re-enrollment agreement available in February via MyEllis.

Q: Does applying for Tailored Tuition impact my daughter’s application for admission?

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    Applications for admission are considered separately from applications for Tailored Tuition. A student may be admissible to the School but waitlisted for Tailored Tuition depending on the resources available at the time of the application. The Ellis School has a robust budget of approximately $1.9 million for Tailored Tuition, and the School’s goal is to partner with as many families of qualified students as possible with the composition of the student body and the fiscal health of the School at the center of each decision.

Q: How do families with multiple households apply for Tailored Tuition?

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    If a student belongs to multiple households, each parent/guardian must submit a separate Clarity Tuition application along with all tax documents and required forms to be considered for Tailored Tuition. All available resources from both parents/guardians and their spouses/live-in partners will be taken into account, based upon the belief that a family’s contribution to educational costs is a reflection of “the ability to contribute, not the willingness to contribute,” which is standard National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and Clarity Tuition policy. All financial information is kept strictly confidential and at no time will one household have access to the others’ information. If a parent is no longer involved in the life of the child in any way, please complete the Second Parent/Guardian Waiver Request Form. You will receive a document request in the Clarity Tuition portal to upload it under Additional Documents. The Director of Enrollment Management will review this request and reach out with any additional requirements.

Q: How does Tailored Tuition benefit families at The Ellis School who pay the top annual tuition?

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    Ellis partners with all families to offset the cost of tuition. Even the top rate of tuition covers only a portion of the total cost of an Ellis education. By offering Tailored Tuition, we distribute our fixed operating expenses across a larger number of tuition payers, helping to ensure that annual increases to tuition are modest. Tailored Tuition supports healthy rates of student participation in our curricular and extracurricular offerings by welcoming more girls to Ellis. Tailored Tuition also ensures that all Ellis students attend school with other bright, engaged, interesting and interested students who create the vibrant, diverse, inclusive community we all want for our children and that we know supports a more compelling and effective learning environment.

Q: How should I prepare to apply for Tailored Tuition?

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    The Tailored Tuition application window runs from November 1 to January 1. Please join us for a Tailored Tuition Tutorial, offered in November and December each school year. These detailed sessions led by the Director of Enrollment Management review the application in detail and prepare you for a swift and accurate submission process. After you have attended a Tutorial, you can schedule a time to speak or meet with the Director of Enrollment Management if you would like assistance with your application or if you have specific questions. Be sure to compile digital copies of your previous year tax documents (1040, W-2s, 1099s, etc.) to help you complete the application. Your application is due by January 1. Clarity will transfer all your relevant tax documents directly from the IRS. If you have any questions at any time, you are welcome to call the Enrollment office at 412-661-4880 or email admissions@key-skills.net.

Q: How is Tailored Tuition determined?

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    The Ellis School uses the recommendation of Clarity Tuition, which is based on the information provided in the parent application and verified with the information in the required tax forms. Significant variables that influence Tailored Tuition include income, assets, liabilities, debts, allowances, the number of dependents and children in tuition-charging schools, saving for retirement and college, and certain unexpected one-time expenses. Based on their family budget, parents/guardians are also asked to include the rate of Tailored Tuition that they believe is the right fit for their budget. This is called the Family Offer. Based on all of the provided information, Clarity Tuition calculates the discretionary income of each family and recommends a stretch but sustainable rate of Tailored Tuition that places tuition among a family’s top financial commitments but does not exceed their budget. Clarity’s recommendation, the Family Offer, and all other qualitative information provided in the application are reviewed to ensure that Tailored Tuition is the right fit for each family.

Q: I’m not sure if my family will qualify for Tailored Tuition. Should I apply?

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    Yes. Each year, Ellis offers Tailored Tuition to families from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Tailored Tuition that is even slightly less than Top Tuition can make all the difference to a family. Please don't hesitate to contact the Enrollment Office at 412-661-4880 or admissions@key-skills.net if you would like some personalized guidance prior to starting the Tailored Tuition application.

Q: Does my family need to reapply for Tailored Tuition every year?

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    Yes. Applications for Tailored Tuition are reviewed every year. Families who receive Tailored Tuition can expect to pay a similar rate year-over-year provided that significant financial variables (filing status, number of dependents, income, etc.) remain the same. Clarity Tuition applications and supporting tax documents are due on December 15 for returning families and January 1 for new families.

Q: Will my family be asked to contribute to the Ellis Fund (The Ellis School's annual fund)?

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    Yes. Participation in the Ellis Fund is of critical importance. Rates of participation among parents are one of the most significant factors that funders take into account when deciding whether or not to invest in a school. Please plan to make a gift that is meaningful to your family and remember that gifts both large and small make a huge difference in the life of the School. 
6425 FIFTH AVENUE, PITTSBURGH, PA 15206
412.661.5992   |   admissions@key-skills.net
6425 FIFTH AVENUE, PITTSBURGH, PA 15206
412.661.5992
admissions@key-skills.net