Tuition & Tuition Assistance

Due to the extraordinary demand for our Early Childhood program, classes are completely full at this time. For additional information about applying for our wait pool and rates for the coming year, please reach out to Sukie Berberich, Associate Director of Early Childhood and Lower School Admissions at sukie.berberich@principia.edu.

Preschool Tuition & Fees

* Fees include Technology Fee (technology in the Classroom), school lunch, field trips and PPA fees.

Kindergarten–Grade 4 Tuition & Fees

Grade 5 Tuition & Fees

* Fees include Technology Fee (iPads in the Classroom), school lunch, field trips and PPA fees.
**5th Grade Fees increases to accommodate for their class trip.

* Fees include Technology Fee (iPads in the Classroom), school lunch, annual "Character Trip", regular field trips and PPA fees.

Upper School Day-Student Program Tuition & Fees

* Fees include Technology Fee (iPads in the Classroom), school lunch, annual "Character Trip", regular field trips and PPA fees.

Middle School (Grade 8) Boarding Program Tuition & Fees

Upper School (Grades 9–12) Boarding Program Tuition & Fees

* Fees include Technology Fee (iPads in the Classroom), school lunch, annual "Character Trip", regular field trips and PPA fees.

**Room & Board includes lodging and meals throughout the academic year (except during any breaks).

Our standard payment plan is 9 monthly payments from August 15 through April 15.

On August 1, your annual bill will be published.  At that point, you will be able to either enroll in the 9-month payment plan or pay the bill in full. You can pay in full, but please be aware that additional charges may accrue. PrinBill is also the billing mechanism for additional meals, after-school care, and other miscellaneous optional expenses.

If you choose to enroll in the 9-month payment plan, you will need to put a payment method on file and schedule monthly payments. PrinBill bills monthly on the 15th and your bill is considered late on the 25th of each month.

Principia accepts ETF bank transfers, all major credit cards (2% service fee), and checks. 

If you choose to do so, you may enroll in the payment plan and not put a specific payment method on file.  This will provide flexibility with how and when you pay, but will require additional diligence to ensure on time payment.

Milly Mensing, our Billing Officer, is responsible for all billing related questions and can be reached at (314) 514-3554.

Your first payment is due August 15th and is considered late on August 25th.

Scheduled payments are due on the 15th of each month, starting in August.  Your account is considered late on the 25th of the month and will be considered to be in default if you become more than 30 days past due. An account that is in default will be at risk of financial suspension.  For further information about implications and potential remediations related to financial suspension, please contact Billing Officer Milly Mensing at milly.mensing@principia.edu. 

For more information about Principia Billing policies, visit the PrinBill webpage.

To recognize and reward students who reflect our core values, Principia offers scholarships to a wide range of students.

• Awards may vary based on the quality of the applicant/application and availability of funds.
• Scholarships are renewable but must be reapplied for each year. 
• Merit-based scholarships must be accompanied by a Clarity tuition-assistance application.
• Scholarship applications are separate from the admissions application and must be completed prior to admission
• If scholarship applications are completed in a timely manner, awards may be delivered ahead of an admission decision

For information about all available scholarships, visit our scholarships page. To apply for scholarships, begin by opening an Admissions Account.

Create an Admission Account

Education is an investment. That's why Principia awards assistance to families with students who align with our commitment to excellence. We offer awards to families who qualify based on their application which illustrates need based on a combination of components. The process for tuition assistance is competitive as funds are limited.  

• Principia is proud to to use the Clarity Tuition Assistance Application to determine a family's level of financial need.
• Once the Clarity Application is completed, our Tuition Assistance Committee will consider all information, including the Clarity "suggested tuition", family size, additional expenses not considered by Clarity, and any other extenuating circumstances to determine an award.
• For helpful answers to common questions, visit the Clarity FAQ Guide.
• For support completing the Clarity application, download the Clarity Application Guide.

If you need additional support while completing your Clarity application, you can reach their support team directly at support@claritytuition.com or 206.210.3752 in both English and Spanish. 

Typical Need-Based Tuition Assistance Awards

Household income is one of many factors we take into consideration when determining how much tuition assistance to award. Tuition assistance awards are based on the cost of tuition and do not typically cover fees and additional expenses such as school uniforms, supplies, travel expenses, etc.

Below is a breakdown of typical tuition assistance amounts based on Household Gross Income:

While the above table is a great way to understand the amount of tuition assistance your student might qualify for, please keep in mind that household income is only one factor. 

Additional factors that could impact your family’s expected contribution could include:

• Number of additional children at Principia

• Medical or other unplanned expenses

• Impact of additional spouse, separated parent, step-parent, etc.

• Timeliness and completeness of Tuition Assistance Application

In addition to Principia-funded merit scholarships and need based tuition assistance, we encourage students to consider applying for outside scholarships, when applicable. Outside scholarships that our office actively works with include:

MoScholars (Today and Tomorrow Foundation or Herzog Tomorrow Foundation)

Provided to students transferring from public school to private school who fall into one of two categories—below a certain income threshold or students with recorded IEPs. If you feel that your student might qualify under either of these criteria, follow the link below to complete the quick survey to see if you qualify.*

MoScholars: Today and Tomorrow Foundation 

MoScholars: Herzog Tomorrow Foundation

*If your student is currently enrolled in and is receiving MoScholars Scholarship money, please be sure to notify the Principia Tuition Assistance office so we can verify your award directly with that foundation.

Access Academy (Graduates of Access Academy Partner Middle Schools)

“Access Academy provides tuition assistance to our partner private, college-prep high schools” 

https://accessacademies.org/programs/

Sunnyside (Texas, Christian Science Families)

https://sunnysidetexas.org/qualifications/

“The Sunnyside Foundation assists practicing Christian Scientists residing in Texas who regularly attend a Christian Science branch church or Sunday School, and are members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts and/or the branch church they are attending.”

*If you are aware of other outside scholarship opportunities that could be useful to members of our community, please reach out to let us know.  We are always looking for new ways to support our families!

Principia's employment policy provides tuition remission as outlined in the Employee Handbook and Benefits Guide.

Faculty staff tuition remission is available beginning in Preschool 3 (PS3) and can be supported by additional need-based tuition assistance if substantial need is demonstrated in the accompanying Clarity Application.

Faculty staff remission is a “One-Principia” benefit, which means the benefit applies to all personnel working for the Principia School, Principia College, and Shared Services.

Students receiving faculty staff remission are welcome to apply for scholarships, when applicable, but should understand that scholarships earned will always be awarded first and will not reduce the net tuition beyond the faculty staff discount.

View Principia Careers

If your child qualifies for a scholarship, we strongly encourage you to review the requirements and consider applying.  Scholarship decisions and admissions decisions are separate, but since scholarships can be determined and delivered prior to admissions decisions, one can certainly support the other. 

Scholarships can also be a great way for families who might not qualify for need-based tuition assistance to receive a reasonably-sized recognition for their commitment to Principia’s values, character, and personal growth.

As soon as possible. Under our new scholarship design, your student can begin applying for scholarships immediately once you have created an Admissions Account. You can then complete scholarship requirements in parallel with the admissions process. 

Yes, but keep in mind that scholarships are applied first. Additional tuition assistance will then be supplied, based on need demonstrated in the accompanying Clarity Application.  Because scholarships are applied first, you cannot apply for scholarships after the fact in order to "top off" your existing awards.  For this reason, a student receiving need-based tuition assistance or faculty staff remission is welcome to apply for scholarships but should be aware that these scholarships will not directly affect their total award or resulting net tuition.

Scholarships are awarded with the use of generous donor funds. In order to qualify for these funds, students must demonstrate that they are maintaining the scholarship requirements each year.

Tuition assistance applications must be submitted during the admissions application process so that all awards are prepared prior to admission.  Depending on the timeline of your admissions application, you may receive scholarship awards prior to an admissions decision, but need-based tuition assistance will be delivered in the enrollment contract after an admit decision has been made.

Clarity charges $60 per family.  This means that if you are applying for multiple children under one "roof", they should all be contained as one single application. Split households can be more complicated, so please reach out to Clarity support for further clarification.

Families with income below a certain threshold will receive an automatic waiver through Clarity.  Before requesting a fee waiver, please complete the application and progress to the point where the fee is requested to see if it will be waived by their criteria.  If you feel that you have extenuating circumstances where a fee waiver is necessary, send an email directly to Mitchell.Stock@Principia.edu for processing.  We have a limited number of fee waivers and will use them sparingly.

If you are asking this question, then the likely answer is "yes".  Applying for tuition assistance will not guarantee an award, but there is no harm in applying and under no circumstances can we provide an award without a tuition assistance application. As a helpful guide, refer to the table above (Typical Need-Based Tuition Awards) to see what range your family’s expected contribution might fall into.

As soon as possible, once you have completed the Admissions Application.

Everyone has some income in some form, and we need you to list whatever sources of income you do have. Your Clarity Application should illustrate your need, but it should also illustrate that you have the means to both support your existing expenses and the additional price of tuition. For every family entering the Principia community, we do not want Principia to be a burden, but rather a blessing.

Principia expects all parents to contribute to their child’s educational costs to the best of their ability. If a parent has remarried, the stepparent’s financials should also be included. Where multiple families are involved, both natural parents and their current spouses must complete separate Clarity tuition assistance applications. The enrolling parent is responsible for ensuring the other parent submits their application.

Applying for tuition assistance every year ensures that the committee has the most up-to-date information about your family financial situation. The Tuition Assistance Committee will always consider the previous years' award when determining the next award, but will also consider information from the most recent application.  If the new application shows significant increases or decreases in any area, then these changes will be considered as well.