Hawaii private-school tuitions rise with inflation

While increases in the average tuition for Hawaii’s private schools statewide for this fall will be smaller than expected at about 2.3%, some prominent schools are raising their tuition by much more as they start to catch up with the past two years’ inflation and rate hikes that were delayed or cut back during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The average annual tuition rose to $13,564 from $13,254, according to latest annual survey by the nonprofit Hawaii Association of Independent Schools. The median private tuition — the amount half of the 99 local private schools surveyed were above, and half were below — rose to $10,800 from $10,234, a 5.5% increase.

Tuition prices among the islands’ private schools are distributed roughly like a bell curve, with 64% charging between $6,000 and $17,999 per year for the 2023-2024 school year. And competition for a shrinking pool of students is among the factors causing many schools to keep increases low, said the association’s executive director, Philip J. Bossert.

But among those at the high end, Punahou School is crossing the $30,000 tuition mark for the first time, the first nonspecialty private school on Oahu to do so. All grades at Punahou will charge $30,480 for the coming 2023-2024 school year — a 5.2% hike.

All grades at Mid-Pacific Institute will charge $29,745 next school year, and all grades at ‘Iolani School will charge $28,250, both increasing by about 4%.

Hawaii Preparatory Academy on Hawaii island crossed the $30,000 threshold this past school year. For the coming fall, students in grades 9-12 will pay $32,500, which is up 6.6%.

Variety School of Hawaii charges the most among Oahu’s independent schools, at $40,540 for all grades. But that school is considered a “special purpose school” in the survey, in that it specializes in serving students with such challenges as high-functioning autism, anxiety-related disorders, nonverbal learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders and mild to moderate cognitive delays, which requires specialized teachers, therapists and equipment.

The Hawaii private school that will charge the most, however, is Horizons Academy of Maui, at $50,400 for all grades, the same amount as the past school year. Horizons also is considered a special-purpose school in the survey; the Kihei school supports students with certain learning challenges, Bossert said. It bills itself on its website as “the only private, non-profit organization on Maui utilizing and implementing behavior analytic programs developed and overseen by a board certified behavior analyst.”

In a state where the cost of living is among the highest in the nation, the point at which rising private school tuition bills could price out a significant number of families has yet to be seen. Hawaii continues to post some of the largest proportions of students in private school, historically at around 15% to 18%, compared with the national average of about 10%.

One Punahou mother says her family has been able to scrape by to keep her daughter at the renowned school in Makiki, but between inflation, rising tuition over the years and the added cost as her son also soon will be of school age, “I wonder now if the time will come when we won’t be able to do this,” she said. She asked to withhold her name because of fear of stigma for her children.

School leaders say decisions on whether and how much to raise tuition are complex and difficult.

Punahou School, for instance, “strives to balance the cost of tuition with necessary investments that enable our school to deliver the best educational experience possible for our students,” the school said in a statement emailed to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We recognize the sacrifices many families make to send their children to Punahou, which is why we provide more than $10 million each year in financial aid. In total, 22% of our students receive financial aid, with an average award of $11,600 per student based entirely on family need.”

At ‘Iolani the school’s Board of Governors “continues to place the value of an ‘Iolani education and the cost of tuition among its highest priorities,” Kim Gennaula, executive director of Advancement, said by email. “We are committed to making an ‘Iolani School education accessible to students by increasing financial aid at twice the rate of tuition increases. For the 2023-24 school year, we have budgeted nearly $8 million for financial aid to be awarded, equating to just over 10% of our operating budget.

“Also, while tuition for the 2023- 24 school year will be $28,250, the true cost of an ‘Iolani education is $39,700. Every student attending ‘Iolani receives a hidden scholarship of $11,450,” Gennaula said.

Bossert said some schools appear to be holding back from dramatically raising tuition, probably “because there’s so much competition for students.”

A “baby bust” during the Great Recession of 2007-2009 means tens of thousands fewer school-age kids right now in Hawaii schools compared with five to 10 years ago, according to a Hawaii Association of Independent Schools analysis.

Complicating that is an unexpected “disappearance” of around 6,000 students from both private and public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, some apparently leaving for the mainland.

And an unusually high number of requests to start new private schools are also redistributing the islands’ student population. Over the past two years, 18 groups have applied with the association’s licensing arm, the Hawaii Council of Private Schools, to start their own schools, and eight so far have launched, Bossert said.

Meanwhile, a federal tax credit known as Employee Retention Credit also has helped about 50 local private schools avoid passing heavier costs on to families, he said. “Almost $40 million has come into our private schools this past year for that, so maybe that cushion helped them keep the amounts lower, at least for this year,” he said.

Hawaii’s private schools over the past couple of dec­ades typically increased tuition rates around 3% to 5% a year, usually on pace with inflation, but during the height of the COVID-19 emergency in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, private schools tended to delay or slow tuition increases, reluctant to add pressure on families struggling with pandemic-related financial troubles, he said.

The full Hawaii Association of Independent Schools survey of private school tuition rates statewide, including those for individual schools, can be seen at 808ne.ws/3OKkTzf.

Private schools on the mainland still charge significantly more than their Hawaii counterparts. At Lakeside School in Seattle, widely considered comparable with major Hawaii private schools such as Punahou, ‘Iolani and Mid-Pacific, tuition this past year was $40,080. Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles will charge $46,900 this fall. The Dalton School in New York will charge $61,120.

When viewed in that context, Bossert said, Hawaii schools “look cheap.”

HAWAII’S MOST EXPENSIVE PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Tuition rates are for 12th graders for 2023-2024, except where noted. The data is from the latest annual survey by the nonprofit Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

Horizons Academy of Maui* $50,400

Variety School of Hawaii* $40,540

Hawaii Preparatory Academy $32,500

Punahou School $30,480

Mid-Pacific Institute $29,745

Assets School* $28,613

‘Iolani School $28,250

Hanahau‘oli School** $26,320

Le Jardin Academy $25,850

Maui Preparatory Academy $24,840

* Classified as a “special purpose school” for students with specific learning challenges or needs.

** Hanahau‘oli School goes up to only sixth grade.