Affording Marlborough

$41,150

In the school's ongoing effort to extend greater transparency and to provide families with more predictable supplemental billings, the cost of most course-related activities have been included in the annual tuition cost.

New Student Fee: $2,500
Estimated 12th Grade Student Fee: $2,000

Grades 7-9: $800 to $1,500
Grades 10-12: $1,000 to $1,600

Roundtrip Transportation: $2,800 to $3,050
One-way Transportation: $1,420 to $1,520
Senior Roundtrip Transportation: $260

Marlborough offers one-way and round-trip transportation for the following areas:
Brentwood
Pacific Palisades
Pasadena
Pico (East of 405)
Santa Monica
South Bay
Valley
Westside

Bring Your Own Laptop: $500 to $2,000
Each student is required to bring her own fully charged laptop to campus every day. Device requirements will be specified.

Go to School & Student Services by NAIS and click on “Complete Your PFS” to access your Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS). Families supporting two households must complete a PFS for each household.

New families select “Create an Account.” Set up your PFS Online Account with your e-mail address and a password. Use the School Code 4875 to create your account. This will enable you to return to your account at a later date to upload required documents. Do not forget you user name and password, as you will need this information again if you apply next year.

Returning families should use your preexisting username and password to start a new Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS) for the next academic school year or to review your existing PFS.

Complete your PFS by completing the PFS Checklist to the left of the screen including household information, family income, family assets and debt, family expenses, and other information. Once you are finished, click “Pay and Submit.” The application fee is $48.00 (application fee waivers are automatically applied if you qualify). This is a flat fee, whether you are applying for aid for one child or several children, and whether your children are applying to one school or several schools.

You will be given instructions about how to submit the following backup documents:
2017 Federal Income Tax forms (Form 1040, including all schedules, W-2s, and/or 1099s);
2016 Federal Income Tax forms (Form 1040, including all schedules, W-2s, and/or 1099s);
Completed, signed IRS Form 4506-T “Request for Transcript of Tax Return.” Click here to download the form.

Anyone may apply for financial aid. Since our applicant pool is so highly talented and funds are limited, financial aid decisions are based strictly on financial need rather than academic achievement. In addition, applying for financial aid will place you in a more competitive pool in the admissions process. Families enrolling at the school should also be aware that it is unlikely they will receive financial aid in future years if they do not apply for financial aid upon initial application to the school, or are unable to clearly demonstrate a significant, unexpectected financial reversal.

Applicants are reviewed for admission to Marlborough School on a need-blind basis. Once the initial admissions review is complete, those candidates deemed admissable who have applied for financial aid are prioritized by the Financial Aid Committee based on the school's enrollment goals. A student who demonstrates financial need will receive an acceptance letter only if a financial aid award is offered. A qualified student who has applied for aid and is determined to have no demonstrated need will receive an acceptance letter as though they had not applied for aid.

Financial aid at Marlborough School is awarded based on a family's demonstrated financial need. In addition, both scholarship and citizenship are requirements for financial aid and are considered by the Financial Aid Committee when reviewing requests each year from students/families continuing at the school. All families awarded financial aid must sign a Financial Aid Agreement which delineates the School's expectations regarding a student's performance while attending the School.

Marlborough School subscribes to the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) by NAIS. Families submit a Parents' Financial Statements (PFS), which provides detailed financial information to SSS. SSS computes a family's tuition contribution based upon a standardized calculation nationally accepted by independent schools. This system considers gross taxable income, assets, liabilities, family size, and number of children in tuition-charging institutions. After an allowance for basic living expenses and taxes, the remaining funds are considered discretionary income available for education. Marlborough School also requires additional information be submitted as part of the financial aid application packet. This includes the most recent year's Federal Income Tax Return (and all supporting schedules and documents), and a signed IRS Form 4506. Because of this additional information, Marlborough's calculated parental contribution may differ from the SSS's calculation. For example, Marlborough may disallow losses attributable to second homes, investment properties, hobby business, and certain types depreciation.

Many factors affect a financial aid award. The most significant of these is family income, but others include:

- family assets: home equity; savings accounts; stocks; investment properties
- indebtedness
- family size
- number of children in tuition-charging institutions

Marlborough does not offer any merit, athletic, or talent scholarships. All financial aid awards at Marlborough are based on demonstrated economic need that is determined using a national, standardized formula that employs an impartial third-party analysis of a family’s financial situation.

Marlborough maintains that the primary responsibility for financing a child’s education rests upon the family. After a family assesses all of its resources, the School encourages them to apply for financial aid to make up any difference between the cost of education and the family’s contribution.

Individual families whose financial circumstances qualify them for financial aid receive different amounts of assistance, depending upon each family's level of need and how much they are able to contribute of their own resources. Financial aid is awarded one year at a time, and families must reapply for awards annually.

Marlborough School considers the assets of both natural parents, if living, before making any award of financial aid. Custodial and non-custodial parents are responsible for educational expenses.

In view of this policy, both natural parents, therefore, are required to complete the financial aid application form and to provide financial information. In addition, it is the responsibility of the primary custodial parent to ask the non-custodial parent to fill out the additional application. Until this information is provided, the financial aid file is incomplete and the Financial Aid Committee will not make a decision on the application.

If either parent has remarried or is living with another adult who is contributing to the household income, the School will consider the assets of the step parent or partner, always bearing in mind that the primary responsibility for payment rests with the natural parents.

Marlborough expects both parents to make every attempt to contribute financially to the education of their child.

If there is a non-working parent in a family with no children below school age, the School requires an explanation as to why the parent is not employed.

Marlborough strongly discourages this approach. Submitting an admissions application as a full-pay family communicates that the family is capable of covering all educational costs for the upcoming year and foreseeable future. Although Marlborough maintains modest emergency funds for families that request aid subsequent to admission, those funds are strictly reserved for families that encounter dramatic, unforeseeable financial reversals after enrollment. No funds are available for families with pre-existing needs that are not disclosed at the time of admission.

In addition to the tuition grant, a Marlborough financial aid package includes coverage of most necessary expenses that your child will incur at the School. The School covers a percentage of required expenses at the level of the family’s financial aid award. This includes items such as books, transportation, and athletic participation. Our goal is to help parents with expenses, and to enable financial aid recipients to participate fully in school life.

Yes. We will ask you to file a new PFS and submit your tax returns and W-2 and/or 1099 forms each year. The School will continue to award a level of aid appropriate to your level of demonstrated need until your child graduates from Marlborough.

Newly-admitted students receive their financial aid award decisions with their Online Enrollment Contracts. Returning students receive their award decisions in mid-March.