Every year schools want to know if they can raise their tuition. The discussion is often impassioned and subjective. Concerns range from whether parents can afford an increase to whether what they provide is actually worth that much.
             However, the bottom line is really this: will an increase in tuition rates have a negative impact on enrollment?
             Begin the discussion with the school's mission. This moves the decision-making process out of the subjective realm of feelings and opinions, and into the objective realm of principles. If the school is truly about the business of delivering on its stated mission, then they must have sufficient resources to be successful in accomplishing that mission.
             At DTS we believe that subjective discussions about who can afford what are similar to a doctor who tries to kill the pain without curing the disease. Discussions about increasing tuition need to begin with two questions: 1) how much does/will it cost for us to effectively deliver our school's mission? And 2) what percent of this cost do we want to eventually charge?
             Once the actual cost is determined you may decide that you want to charge 90% and supplement the rest with fund raisers (although if the fund raising is primarily with parents, you're still charging 100%).
             Or you may decide that you want to charge 100% and raise an additional 10% for tuition assistance.
             Some schools charge 110% and then give 10% away to lower-income families.
             Once the two basic questions are answered, the next step is to determine just how long it should take to get from where you're at in your tuition rates now to where you have determined you should be.
             However, there is one essential key component that is too-frequently overlooked in this discussion – the element of tuition assistance. (see the article "How Much is Enough?") Bottom line is this: for most schools, 4-7% is probably adequate for low-income fami...