High cost of jewish education and size of family

Log in / Sign Up

List of Forums + New Post Recipe Box Usergroups Following My Posts Bookmarks

Private Messages Advanced Search Rules New User Guide FAQ Advertise Contact Us

Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

1 2 3 Next

View latest: 24h 48h 72h

kvetchalot

Fri, Jan 23 2009, 4:00 pm

Does anyone feel that the high tuition price of a Jewish day school education is causing them to rethink the size of their family? I personally want another child (have three beautiful kids) but the cost of Day School education and the poor economy are causing us to rethink expanding our family and this is very hard to handle.

avigailmiriam

Fri, Jan 23 2009, 4:03 pm

This blog frequently talks about the issues around tuition in the Jewish community. I know she has a post or two on family size.

http://orthonomics.blogspot.com/

kvetchalot

Fri, Jan 23 2009, 4:24 pm

Thanks for the link, I understand that ones finances can only go so far but I am also looking for a response to the emotional side of not being able to expand your family due to the cost of tuition. Anyone have advice?

avigailmiriam

Fri, Jan 23 2009, 4:26 pm

kvetchalot wrote:

Sorry, I can't help with that. Hopefully someone else will be able to.

Tamiri

Sat, Jan 24 2009, 11:47 am

Can you move to Israel? You may find tuitions more reasonable here.

shabbatiscoming

Sat, Jan 24 2009, 2:01 pm

like tamiri says. or move out of town somewhere wher the tuition is not as high as an in town place.

grin

Sat, Jan 24 2009, 2:10 pm

you're not the only one thinking along those lines. this has been discussed before, and it's definitely a serious problem in the US:
http://imamother.com/forum/vie.....&

Raisin

Sat, Jan 24 2009, 2:41 pm

what sort of community are you in? it seems mo schools have much higher tuitions then schools in say, williamsburg, where large families are more commmon.

Strudel

Sat, Jan 24 2009, 7:04 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

like tamiri says. or move out of town somewhere wher the tuition is not as high as an in town place.

The MO school here OOT charges $10,000 a year. Not so cheap.

shanie5

Sat, Jan 24 2009, 7:45 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

like tamiri says. or move out of town somewhere wher the tuition is not as high as an in town place.

out of town schools are not usually cheaper-they have a smaller clientel, and s/t have to import teachers. Those I know of who are out of town dont usually get scholarships either.

NotInNJMommy

Sun, Jan 25 2009, 9:02 am

My school is considered cheaper, and currently it's $7000 for non high school, full day. (ie. high school is more expensive and half day nursery is less).
It doesn't take many brachos to get that to add up to a lot.

catonmylap

Sun, Jan 25 2009, 9:54 am

I would think if you have more kids, you will be more likely to qualify for a tuition reduction.

Is another kid really going to get you to the point where you are starving or just to the point where you won't be able to afford a fancy vacation or a new car??? (I have no idea where you are coming from, so this could be totally off)...

And I'll echo Tamiri's- have you thought about making aliya?

newu

Mon, Jan 26 2009, 12:52 pm

a friend of mine actually told me that there is a term for pple making aliyah b/c they can't affort yeshivah tuition, they're being called tuition refugees....

Amital

Mon, Jan 26 2009, 2:10 pm

catonmylap wrote:

I would think if you have more kids, you will be more likely to qualify for a tuition reduction.

One can hope. My ds will start school next year at about 10,500. The tuition reduction for each additional kid? A whopping 200 bucks! (Yes, $200. Really.)

catonmylap

Mon, Jan 26 2009, 3:24 pm

Amital wrote:

catonmylap wrote:

I would think if you have more kids, you will be more likely to qualify for a tuition reduction.

One can hope. My ds will start school next year at about 10,500. The tuition reduction for each additional kid? A whopping 200 bucks! (Yes, $200. Really.)

My parents got a tuition reduction until just 1 kid was left in school. There were only 4 of us, and we weren't that poor.

Are there so many more seriously poor families these days that families with average incomes have to all pay full tuition or does it vary greatly by city/school?

I don't really remember there being kollel families either(80s/90s), so I'm confused if it was something that didn't exist the same way it does today. (Did everyone then get a job by the time they had kids in school?)

Atali

Mon, Jan 26 2009, 3:43 pm

catonmylap wrote:

Amital wrote:

catonmylap wrote:

I would think if you have more kids, you will be more likely to qualify for a tuition reduction.

One can hope. My ds will start school next year at about 10,500. The tuition reduction for each additional kid? A whopping 200 bucks! (Yes, $200. Really.)

I also didn't have kollel kids in my class and I think in general the kollel issue is greatly exaggerated. I think the bigger problem is that the frum lifestyle costs way more than the average income, so the vast majority of working parents cannot afford to pay it.

anon

Mon, Jan 26 2009, 3:53 pm

Struggling significantly to pay for tuition has nothing to do with being poor. Not struggling has more to do with being very comfortable/wealthy, then struggling is related to poverty.

Put it this way: Combined, dH and I make what should be considered a respectable salary...nothing exciting, but certainly not poor. But if we had to pay full tuition for many children, a mortgage for a simple house, plus the millions of other expenses that it takes to support a family...you better believe that we'll be seriously struggling to make ends meet. Who's even thinking about fancy cars and vacations? I'm just thinking about not feeling or looking like a shmatte...is that unreasonable?

Imaonwheels

Tue, Jan 27 2009, 12:47 am

ldd wrote:

a friend of mine actually told me that there is a term for pple making aliyah b/c they can't affort yeshivah tuition, they're being called tuition refugees....

Although I strongly support aliya not just because of the price but also the immense chinuch benefits of raising kids in Israel, this term is bothers me. It implies an all too common attitude of HaShem's holy land is another comfort that I can take for granted and use or toss as I see fit.

Tamiri

Tue, Jan 27 2009, 1:14 am

On the other hand, Ima: whatever it takes...

Isramom8

Tue, Jan 27 2009, 1:24 am

C'mon, most people I know here in Israel are struggling with high tuition costs. You make sooooo much less money here. It's true that what we pay for 8 kids in gan and school is equal to what many in America pay for 2 kids, but proportionately, it's a very large portion of our budget.

Our kids go to: private gan expensive, an elementary school that isn't subsidized, cheder that charges, Bais Yaakov high school that is subsidized, seminary with dorm that is considered expensive, special needs yeshiva ketana expensive, and American yeshiva gedola expensive. Transportaion (expensive!) not included.

Page 1 of 3

1 2 3 Next