Perelman Jewish Day School Middle Income Affordability and Cozen Scholars Programs

About Perelman Perelman Jewish Day School serves students in Kindergarten – 5 th grade on 2 campuses in suburban Philadelphia. Current Enrollment – 346 students Affiliated with the Schechter Day School Network Accredited by PAIS (Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools Member of ADVIS (Association of Delaware Valley independent Schools) Constituent Agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia

Session Overview Our presentation will include: – Why and how we developed our program – How our program is funded – Preliminary outcomes – Began process in the fall of 2013 – Unveiled in November 2014 – 2 nd admission cycle since its launch

Why a Tuition Affordability Program at Perelman? Enrollment data suggested middle income families underrepresented Feedback from admission professionals - difficult to recruit middle income families

What We Heard Middle Income Families would tell us: – I don’t even want to look because I know I’m going to love it and I can’t afford it. – OR – I can afford the tuition for my first child but not for my 2 nd or 3rd

Tuition Incentives Offered in Past 4 tuition incentive programs offered in prior years All funded by outside donors and offered to a particular cohort Each one was slightly different: – #1 - synagogue based and offered over a few years – #2- open to all Gan students in a particular year – #3 - limited to 10 new middle income families – #4- limited to 5 families of school’s choosing

Outcomes Positive Outcome: – All drew more students to our school Challenges: – Some families chose to withdraw at time of 2 nd child’s enrollment – Some chose not to enroll siblings – Disappointment when there were no incentives offered We realized we needed a more comprehensive approach – A program that would be offered indefinitely and allow families to project their tuition payments long-term – A program that would reverse this trend and fill our empty seats

Program Goal Provide a Comprehensive Approach to Tuition Affordability Assist families in the middle-income range ($150,000-$350,000) to afford a Perelman education for ALL of their children. Offer a transparent approach that would allow families to project their future tuition payments and stabilize our enrollment.

How our Program was Developed Small Committee – Board members, parents, school administrators Reviewed successes of our prior incentive grant programs Feedback from current parents Research with other schools Support from AVICHAI

Initial Decisions Program open to current families Program should be user-friendly and easily understood Provide grant amounts in $$ rather than on % of income Awards would be based on Total Income – As Reported on Line 22 of 1040 Assets not considered F/A recipients would receive the SAME of MORE than those in Affordability program in same income category

Committed to Offer the Program for 3 Years Evaluate during the 3 years: – Have we realized an increase in the # of middle income families enrolled in K-2? – Have we filled empty seats K-2? Exit Strategy – After 3 years if we determine that the program is not increasing the number of families in the middle income range we will no longer offer it to new families – We will honor commitments to families already enrolled in the program

Next Steps Develop a chart outlining awards by income range and # of children enrolled – Reviewed Past Financial Aid awards to determine % of income paid toward tuition – Discovered families on F/A paid 11-12% of income – We knew that Affordability grants had to be < % of total income & generous enough to encourage enrollment

Affordability Grant Chart

Explanation of Income Ranges $150,000 – income of families on the cusp of qualifying for F/A $350,000 –Ceiling of income from which families walk away when they have multiple children enrolled $300,000-$350,000-grant amounts are symbolic- acknowledging a family’s commitment to our school.

Additional Incentive Component Cozen Scholars Cozen Family agreed to underwrite 1 st year of Affordability program for 10 new families w/incomes between $150,000-$350,000 Students referred to as Cozen Scholars Funding from Cozen family guaranteed for 5 years

How Does the Affordability Program Differ from the Traditional Financial Aid Program? Affordability ProgramTraditional Financial Aid Income - $150,000 - $350,000 Assets – Not Considered Application Process – 2 page application, 1 st 2 pages of of Form 1040 Fixed award based on income range and number of children enrolled No Appeals Process Income-Below $150,000 unless family demonstrates extenuating circumstances Assets Considered In depth application including information regarding income and assets – full tax return and other supporting documents Award can vary depending on net disposable income, assets, number of children enrolled, and other circumstances Appeal Process

Costs Estimated Costs – 1 st Year - $250,000 Actual Costs – 1 st Year - $260,000

Application Process Modeled after other schools Families submit simple 2-page application and 1 st 2 pages of their previous year’s tax return Awards are automatic according to the chart Based on a family’s Total Income – As reported on Line 22 on Form 1040

Publicity Ad Campaign – Ad initially placed in local Jewish paper over several months Special Flyer – Sent to feeder pre-schools – Sent to Prospect Lists Page on our Website

Results 1 st Year 27 New Families Enrolled ( 21 in prior year) – 15 Inquired about program – 11 Applied – 11 Accepted Current Families – 51 Applied – 31 Accepted (11 of which had been on F/A) 42 Families Accepted in Total

Response to Date this Year New Families – 16 Number that have inquired to date – 9 applied

Evaluating Success – It will take 6 years, a full cycle of recruitment for our K-5 school to determine if we’ve met our goals: – To increase the number of middle income families enrolled in our school – To fill classrooms- Reduce the number of empty seats – To stabilize, sustain and ultimately increase our enrollment

Questions