Setting a Tuition Cap? The Schools You Sample Decide the Number
A tuition cap is only as good as the tuition study behind it. If the study samples the wrong schools, the cap comes out too low, families end up paying the difference, and employees start questioning the cap itself when the real problem was the number.
Companies that pay for international or private school on assignment often need two kinds of numbers, and a tuition study provides both.
The first is a budgeting number. A business unit planning a move needs to know what to put in the line item. If fifteen employees are moving to a city and roughly half of them have two children, what should the budget assume per child per year for international school? That figure shapes whether the move goes ahead and how it’s costed.
The second is a policy number: the tuition cap. Many companies vary education support by type of assignment and level of employee. A permanent transfer might receive no schooling assistance, while an employee on a long-term assignment receives tuition support up to a set amount per child, per location. Anything above the cap, the family pays.
Why the Cap Matters So Much
All tuition numbers matter, but the cap matters in a particular way, because it’s the number families live with. If the cap in a city is set at a level that doesn’t cover a suitable school, every family on assignment there is out of pocket, year after year. That’s a real cost to employees, and it shows up in the company’s relationship with them.
The cap needs to be accurately determined, and accuracy depends on which schools are in the sample.
Where Tuition Studies Go Wrong
As you’ve likely seen, the term “international” has never been patented. Schools around the world use it for very different things. Some are genuinely international schools serving a globally mobile community. Others are schools founded for local students who want a bridge to a Western education later on, often with an international program or a curriculum such as the IB, and fees priced for the local market. Both may be excellent schools. They’re not interchangeable when you’re setting a cap for relocating families.
We’ve worked with a number of companies whose tuition caps were set by a provider who collected fees without that understanding. A typical example: the study chose three “international” schools in a city and took the average. One of the three was in practice a school for local students, with fees well below the others. The average came out several thousand dollars lower than the cost of the schools relocating families would realistically use.
The consequences follow quickly. Families find the cap doesn’t cover a suitable school. They push back. And because the number looks official, the debate becomes about whether the company should have a cap at all. Often the company didn’t need to question the idea of a cap. It needed to question the number.
What a Reliable Tuition Study Takes Into Account
A tuition study for a cap or a budget should reflect the schools your employees’ children will actually attend. That means looking at:
- Who each school is designed for, and whether relocating families can realistically enroll.
- The curriculum and language of instruction your employees’ children need, so the sample compares like with like.
- Fees by grade, since secondary years often cost considerably more than primary.
- Costs beyond tuition, such as registration and application fees, capital or building fees, transportation and other charges your policy will or won’t cover.
- Whether there are places available, since a school with a long waiting list may not be a realistic option.
- How many locations and assignment types the cap needs to cover, and how often it will be reviewed.
Our earlier posts on what international school is going to cost and what “international” school means go into more detail on the differences between schools.
Questions to Ask About Your Current Cap
If you already have caps in place, a few questions will tell you how much to trust them:
- Which schools were sampled in each location, and why those schools?
- Were any of them schools designed mainly for local students?
- Does the cap cover a suitable school at every grade, including the final years?
- Which fees beyond tuition were included?
- When was the study last updated?
If the answers are unclear, the cap may be fine, or it may be the source of complaints you’re already hearing.
How Bennett Helps
Bennett carries out tuition studies for companies that need a budget figure or a defensible cap, with the schools sampled by people who understand the difference between them. We work this into the wider question of your education benefits policy, including who receives tuition support and on what terms. You can read about tuition studies and tuition caps on our education benefits policy page, and our post Do We Have to Pay for International School? covers the decision that comes before the cap. For a group move, a tuition study is often part of the research we do before the move is announced; see our group move education consulting.
Reviewing a Tuition Cap?
Tell us which locations you’re budgeting for or capping, and we’ll explain how a tuition study would work for you.
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Bennett International Education Consultancy works directly with hundreds of families each year across the globe. We support families by helping them make informed decisions about the best-fit schools for their children; with our guidance, they secure placement in preschools, private day schools, public/state schools, boarding schools, colleges and universities, including schools with particular programs, such as special needs support.
