Public vs private school: compare the whole cost.
Tuition is only part of a household school budget. Compare each child's enrollment timeline, aftercare and summer coverage alongside confirmed school quotes. See annual cash needs and a multi-year difference—without assigning a value to a child's education.
Every starting value is hypothetical, not a market average or school offer. Replace both scenarios with your quotes. A lower cost does not establish school quality, suitability or admission eligibility.
Before you compare
- Use year-one prices throughout, even for a child starting later. The scenario's annual price change applies from projection year one.
- Start from gross tuition before reductions. Enter confirmed aid and sibling discounts as separate, non-overlapping dollar reductions. If your quote is already net, enter that net tuition and set both reductions to zero.
- Fees, meals, transport and care must be additional costs not already included elsewhere. Aftercare months and summer/break weeks must represent separate billed coverage. Enter zero for anything included.
- No names, birthdays, school names or account information are needed. Inputs are calculated in this page, are not saved, and are not added to the URL or sent by this calculator. Reloading loses edits; export if you want a copy.
Your household cost comparison
Enable JavaScript to calculate your scenarios.
Positive difference = the private scenario costs more. Negative difference = it costs less. Neither result is a school recommendation. All totals are nominal USD, not inflation-adjusted present values. The CSV contains your numeric inputs; share it only as intended.
Worked example: two children, five school years
The reset example has two children enrolled in both scenarios for all five years. In year one, public-scenario costs per child are $300 fees + $4,000 aftercare (10 × $400) + $2,000 summer care (8 × $250) + $500 extras + $100 entry costs. Together with $600 household transport, that totals $14,400.
The private scenario starts with $15,000 tuition per child, minus $2,000 aid per child and a separate $1,000 sibling discount for the second child only. Add $600 combined fees, $4,000 aftercare, $4,000 summer care, $1,000 extras, $200 entry costs and $1,800 transport: $36,600. The year-one difference is $22,200, or $1,850 averaged across 12 months. These are invented arithmetic examples, not tuition estimates.
Both scenarios assume 3% annual price increases; aid and discounts stay at fixed annual dollar amounts. One-time entry costs are charged only when each child starts, so multiplying the first-year total by five would be wrong.
How the calculation works
For projection year y, the price factor is (1 + annual price change ÷ 100)y − 1. An enrolled child's net tuition is the greater of zero and (base tuition × price factor − annual aid − annual sibling discount). Gross tuition, required fees, care rates, extras, shared transport and entry costs use that price factor. Aid and discounts do not grow.
Annual care = (monthly aftercare × paid months + weekly summer/break care × paid weeks) × price factor. Fees and extras are annual per-child amounts. Entry costs occur only in the child's first enrolled projection year, at that year's price level. Household transport is counted once in any year with at least one enrolled child. Totals sum full enrollment years only; partial-year billing and refunds are not modeled.
Confirmed reductions must not exceed base tuition. If falling future tuition makes fixed aid plus discount larger than tuition, net tuition stops at zero; unused reductions do not pay for care or other costs. Renewal is an assumption, not a promise: this version repeats the entered aid and discount for every enrolled year, even when a sibling is no longer enrolled. If eligibility changes, run separate periods with updated confirmed amounts.
What this estimate leaves out
No taxes, 529 withdrawals, vouchers, credits, borrowing costs, investment returns, home purchases, property-tax differences, relocation, parent time or lost wages are added automatically. Regular household spending remains outside the model. It does not predict educational outcomes, school acceptance or financial-aid eligibility. Enrollment schedules may differ between scenarios; compare the same coverage period and account separately for costs outside enrollment.
Check the actual contract for deposits credited against tuition, fees, refund terms, aid renewal and sibling eligibility. The Florida Department of Education's private-school checklist specifically encourages reviewing tuition payment, refund and fee policies. That is a Florida resource, not a statement of nationwide law; confirm requirements with the school and your own state.
Costs are calculated without intermediate currency rounding and displayed to cents. Inputs support up to $10 million per dollar field, annual price changes from −20% to 20%, and up to 20 projection years. Totals above $1 trillion are rejected rather than presented as reliable estimates.
Continue your household planning
Compare care quotes with the childcare cost calculator, or bring your complete annual school budget into the one-income household planner. These tools cover different scopes; do not add the same childcare spending twice.
Methodology reviewed October 25, 2026. Educational household-cost scenarios, not personalized financial, tax, legal or school-selection advice.