Tuition

Tuition for the 2010-2011 school year will be $5,625. This is due in 9 equal payments as laid out below. All payments are due on the first of the month, with the exception of the first, which is paid upon acceptance to reserve a spot at the Academy. There are no fees for registration, enrollment, or re-enrollment. Additional fees will only be charged for optional activities/materials, and you will be asked in advance.

Payment Schedule

  1. acceptance of enrollment: $625
  2. August: $625
  3. September: $625
  4. October: $625
  5. November: $625
  6. December: $625
  7. January: $625
  8. February: $625
  9. March: $625

Discounts

If tuition is paid in full by August 1st, a discount of 2 to 5 percent will be given on the full amount, depending on the terms of the loan(s) we obtain to allow us to build LCA's permanent campus. We may offer other discounts if we find that a particular practice makes sense financially, but we're not aware of any yet.

  • First families discount

We feel the families who enrolled their children when Las Cruces Academy was first starting deserve a discount in recognition of their importance to us. Their tuition rate is $575/month.

  • Volunteering families discount

Many of the critical jobs at the Academy can be done by parental volunteers. This is not only a way for the parents to become more active participants in the lives of their children, it is also a great service to the Academy. We wish to recognize it as such. The maximum tuition rate in 2010 - 2011 for the child of a volunteer family is $600/month.

Anti-discounts

We plan on accepting credit cards, but that comes with a non-negligible fee for us (we hope it will become negligible as we grow), which we will have to pass along. The cost to us is a little over 2.9% of the total payment, which will give the following payment schedule using a credit card:

  1. acceptance of enrollment: $644
  2. August: $644
  3. September: $644
  4. October: $644
  5. November: $644
  6. December: $644
  7. January: $644
  8. February: $644
  9. March: $644

We understand that credit cards are the norm and we'll accept them, but the losses from not charging for their use would add up quickly and mean fewer supplies and activities for the children. Our current means of accepting credit-card payments is through PayPal. We will have this set up on the website here shortly. We may in the future set up payment with a card reader, which is less expensive per transaction but which has setup costs.

Scholarships

We are seeking funding for scholarships from local and national charitable foundations/individuals. We hope to offer tuition to cover 100% of financial need using a formula based on the same information which would be provided in a FAFSA. Unfortunately, we cannot yet guarantee this level of financial support, although we will update this page when funding becomes available.

If you need financial aid to afford tuition, please notify us. We will actively contact community groups and patrons in search of assistance for you while attempting to maintain your privacy as much as possible.

See the scholarships page for information on scholarships available from other organizations.

Tuition in future years

Unfortunately, due to the costs of building a permanent campus (especially in conjunction with simultaneously renting space on the downtown mall), tuition will increase in subsequent years. The tuition level set for the 2009-2010 school year reflects what is essentially an early-adopters discount. For the 2010-2011 school year, we plan to increase tuition by $400, giving a total of $5,625 per year. After this increase, we only expect to raise tuition in line with inflation so that it stays constant at 5,625 2010 USD.