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本帖最后由 kc_zhang 于 2023-9-18 17:03 编辑
悉尼的便宜一些，最贵的保位费是Cranbrook和Sydney Grammar，分别为$7275和$7032。
https://www.smh.com.au/national/ ... 0230913-p5e49t.html
The Sydney private school charging parents $7275 just to secure enrolment
Lucy Carroll
ByLucy Carroll
September 14, 2023 — 11.39am
Parents are being charged thousands of dollars to lock in their child’s place at some of Sydney’s top private schools, with non-refundable fees billed years before entry and months ahead of the release of public selective school places.
Independent all-boys school Trinity Grammar hiked its enrolment fee by almost 80 per cent to $5000 in the past year, while Shore School has lifted its combined confirmation and enrolment fee by one-third to $4000 since 2021.
Many of the city’s wealthiest schools charge parents application fees of $400 to join a waiting list, but also require a non-refundable payment of between $2000 to $7275 to confirm a student will accept a place – in some cases two or three years before they start.
Critics say the fees – or down payments – are designed to stop parents “school shopping” by joining multiple waiting lists, but then withdrawing applications once a spot is secured at a preferred option or after being offered a selective school place.
“These fees are used to give schools greater certainty about revenue, and to force anxious parents to make early and binding decisions about where to enrol their child,” says John Simpson, an education governance expert and former member of council at Scotch College in Melbourne.
“But very high upfront fees really can’t be justified if they don’t go towards school tuition costs once a child starts at the school.
“As school fees and cost-of-living pressures rise, enrolment charges will go up. Schools need to be wary of fee gouging before a child has started at the school. A modest enrolment fee is justified – but what we are seeing in the sector cannot any longer be described as modest.”
Many schools do not allow the fee to go towards tuition costs, which this year broke the $45,000 mark for year 12, and parents forfeit the payment if the family decides to enrol elsewhere.
Cranbrook, which is planning a DA application with Woollahra Council to lift its enrolment cap by 260 students before shifting to co-education in 2026, charges parents a $300 application fee and $7275 fee to secure a place.
The school received about $1.7 million in enrolment fees last year, a drop from $2.2 million in 2021.
In recent letters to prospective parents, Cranbrook principal Nicholas Sampson said the non-refundable enrolment fee is required for all incoming students to “help build an endowment fund to ensure the financial security of the school”. Parents who turn down their place up to eight months before a child is expected to start are also charged a term’s tuition.
In NSW, the Department of Education releases thousands of public selective school places about six months before the start of the school year. About 4200 offers went out for 2024 at the end of last month.
Trinity Grammar principal Tim Bowden said it had been a decade since its school council last reviewed the enrolment charges, which are generally payable in the two years leading up to a start date.
“One of the functions of the fee is to require families to demonstrate their intention to come to Trinity. Otherwise, they could accept places at half a dozen schools and walk away at the last minute,” he said.
At eastern suburbs all-girls school Ascham, enrolment offers are made two to three years before entry, with parents asked to pay a $6000 fee that is not credited towards tuition. The King’s School charges an enrolment fee of $4500, St Ignatius’ College, Riverview $4800, Newington $5000 and Sydney Grammar $7032.
One former school executive with detailed knowledge of the independent sector, who asked to remain anonymous to be able to speak freely, said if enrolment fees are charged schools should consider allowing a “large proportion” to go towards tuition.
“The enrolment charges are now higher than the total annual fees at some of Sydney’s low-fee and newer private schools,” they said.
“When it is getting beyond $5000 schools should be able to explain to parents what the money is going towards, and even if it should be put towards first term’s tuition fee.”
Knox Grammar, which generated about $3.2 million from enrolment fees last year, noted in its latest financial report the payments are set aside for future infrastructure, and when a specific project is identified, funds are transferred to cover those costs.
However, education consultant Paul O’Shannassy, who helps families choose schools, said the enrolment fees are often used as an insurance policy for schools that have students drop out at the last minute.
“It is somewhat understandable from a school perspective who have ‘list cloggers’ and may have turned other families away on the basis of others accepting a spot,” he said.
翻译：
标题：悉尼私立学校向家长收取7275澳元，仅用于确认入学
悉尼一些顶级私立学校向家长收取数千澳元的费用，以确保他们的孩子在入学前数年和公立精英学校名单发布前数个月支付不可退还的费用。
独立的全男子学校Trinity Grammar去年将其入学费提高了近80％，达到5000澳元，而自2021年以来，Shore School将其综合确认和入学费提高了三分之一，达到4000澳元。
该市的许多最富有的学校向家长收取400澳元的申请费，但还要求在学生入学前两到三年支付介于2000澳元到7275澳元之间的不可退还费用，有些情况下，甚至要早于入学前的两到三年。
批评人士称，这些费用或预付款旨在阻止家长在加入多个候补名单后，一旦在首选选项或被提供选择性学校名额后便撤回申请，以“挑选学校”。
教育治理专家和墨尔本Scotch学院前理事会成员约翰·辛普森表示：“这些费用用于使学校对收入更有把握，并迫使焦虑的家长早日做出关于在哪里入学的早期和约束性决策。”
“但如果这些很高的前期费用在孩子入学后不用于学费支出，就无法进行合理辩解。
“随着学费和生活成本的压力不断上升，入学费用也会上涨。学校在孩子入学前向他们索取高额的费用需要谨慎。适度的入学费用是合理的，但我们在这个领域所看到的不能再被称为适度。”
许多学校不允许这笔费用用于学费支出，而且如果家庭决定在其他地方入学，父母将放弃这笔款项。
计划在2026年转为男女共校制的Cranbrook向家长收取300澳元的申请费和7275澳元的入学费。
该学校去年收到了约170万澳元的入学费，低于2021年的220万澳元。
在最近的信函中，Cranbrook校长尼古拉斯·桑普森向未来的家长表示，不可退还的入学费对所有新生都是必需的，以“帮助建立一个捐赠基金，以确保学校的财务安全”。如果家庭决定在孩子预计开始学习的八个月前放弃他们的名额，父母还将被收取一个学期的学费。
在新南威尔士，教育部在学年开始前约六个月发布了数千个公立精英学校名额。去年底，为2024年提供了约4200个名额。
Trinity Grammar校长蒂姆·鲍登表示，距离学校委员会上次审查入学费已经过去十年了，这些费用通常需要在开始日期前的两年内支付。
“费用的一个功能是要求家庭表明他们打算来Trinity。否则，他们可以接受半打学校的名额，然后在最后一刻离开，”他说。
在东部郊区的全女子学校Ascham，入学名额会在入学前的两到三年内发放，要求家长支付一个不计入学费的6000澳元费用。The King's School收取4500澳元的入学费，St Ignatius' College, Riverview 4800澳元，Newington 5000澳元，Sydney Grammar 7032澳元。
一位详细了解独立学校行业的前学校高管（要求匿名以便能够自由发言）表示，如果要收取入学费，学校应该考虑让“相当大比例”的费用用于学费。
他说：“入学费现在高于悉尼一些低学费和新兴私立学校的总年费。
“当费用超过5000澳元时，学校应该向家长解释这笔钱用途，甚至是否应该用于第一个学期的学费。”
Knox Grammar去年从入学费中获得了约320万澳元，最新的财务报告中指出，这些款项是为未来的基础设施准备的，当确定了特定项目时，资金将被转移以支付相关成本。
然而，教育顾问保罗·奥沙纳西（Paul O'Shannassy），协助家庭选择学校，表示入学费通常用作对学校最后一刻有学生退学的保险政策。
他说：“从学校的角度来看，有‘名单堵塞者’的情况有些可以理解，也许已经因为其他家庭接受名额而拒绝其他家庭。” |
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