Geelong Grammar charges students almost $85,000 a year
Students at an elite school will have to pay as much as a house down payment to get their education, with parents shelling out nearly $85,000 in tuition.
Geelong Grammar will charge Year 9 boarding students a whopping $84,240 fee from 2024, following an eight per cent increase in the annual payment.
The school in Corio, southwest of Melbourne, charges students in grades 10 to 12 $49,720 toward their tuition. Year 7 and 8 students will be billed $41,060.
Geelong Grammar is the most expensive school in the state and counted King Charles as one of its students for two terms in 1966.
Students attending Geelong Grammar in Melbourne’s south-west will pay nearly $85,000 in tuition from next year
Geelong Grammar is the most expensive school in the state and counted King Charles as one of its students for two terms in 1966
The Year 9 boarding students live on the school’s Timbertop campus, about 150 miles northwest of Melbourne.
The latest price increase comes after the school increased fees for Year 12 students by 5.4 percent in 2023.
The school sent a letter to students explaining that the costs took into account teacher salaries and other “fixed costs.” The Herald Sun reported.
“Staff salaries represent more than 64 percent of the school’s total costs, while student services and utilities account for 16 percent,” the letter said.
The school said they did not increase tuition during the pandemic, but have now changed their enrollment structure.
“A modest two percent increase in 2022 and a six percent increase in 2023, keeping fee increases during this period below the average for non-government schools and below the Consumer Price Index,” the letter said.
“The 2024 rate increases represent a reset of our rate schedule.”
Daily Mail Australia contacted Geelong Grammar for comment.
The school benefited from a $10 million benefit during the pandemic, thanks to the Job Keeper payment.
Compensation was maintained at $41,792 throughout 2021.
Geelong Grammar isn’t the only school in Victoria that has to pay parents a hefty sum for their child’s tuition.
According to a letter sent to parents by the school, the latest tuition increases are due to teacher salaries and other “fixed costs.”
Geelong Grammar is the most expensive school in Victoria and received a $10 million benefit during the pandemic, thanks to the Job Keeper payment.
Mount Scopus Memorial College, a Jewish school in Burwood, increased fees this year to $40,860 for Year 12 students – an increase of $1,900 on fees charged in 2022.
It comes after the Victorian government announced non-government schools would be hit with a payroll tax if they earn more than $15,000 in school fees per student.
The tax will come into effect in July 2024.