Prince Alfred College and Saint Peter’s Girls School to join St Peter’s College in charging more than $25,000 in Year 12 fees
MORE elite independent schools are set to charge in excess $25,000 in Year 12 fees next year, while some prominent Catholic schools have chosen to freeze fees.
MORE elite independent schools are set to join the exclusive $25,000 club for Year 12 fees, while some prominent Catholic colleges are freezing their prices to remain affordable for parents.
At least two schools, Prince Alfred College and St Peter’s Girls School, will join St Peter’s College, which was the first to hit $25,000 mark this year.
And there could be three more, with Seymour College almost certain to join and Pembroke and Walford other likely candidates.
Those three schools have yet to declare their fees, while Scotch College will come within a whisker of membership by charging $24,920 next year.
Many of the same elite schools have recently announced multi-million upgrade plans. Some also charge more than $2000 extra for students doing the International Baccalaureate instead of the SACE at Year 12 level.
Association of Independent Schools of SA chief executive Carolyn Grantskalns said the fee rises, which are mostly 3 per cent or less, largely reflected salary increases as wages were “the bulk of schools’ expenditure”.
Schools were also affected by the same pressures as households such as electricity and Emergency Services Levy bills, she said.
Ms Grantskalns said spending on new buildings had “some impact one fees” but it was minimised by low interest rates.
“Schools are very conscious that many parents make significant sacrifices to support their choices for their child’s education,” she said.
St Peter’s Girls, which last month unveiled a four-year, $9 million redevelopment plan, will raise Year 12 fees 3.8 per cent to $25,110 next year — the biggest percentage increase of schools surveyed by The Advertiser.
The upgrade of the Stonyfell campus will include a revamped middle school, library and science labs, and a rebuild of its gym.
Parents at PAC, which has its own $10 million plan for a new 150-room boarding school and a fully enclosed pedestrian bridge over The Parade West at Kent Town, face a 2.9 per cent hike to $25,430. Neither St Peter’s Girls or PAC would comment on their rises.
St Peter’s College will likely remain Adelaide’s most exclusive school with Year 12 fees set at $25,855, but in a letter to parents governing council chairman Joe Thorp said the 2.9 per cent rise was the lowest since 2006.
The Hackney school recently spent an undisclosed sum to buy the neighbouring former Sanitarium factory site for extra playing fields and carparking.
Seymour College charged $24,855 this year, Pembroke $24,582 and Walford $24,240, so could all reach the $25,000 fee mark in 2017.
In the Catholic system, Rostrevor and Cabra colleges have both kept Year 12 fees at 2016 levels, while Sacred Heart College has set a 1 per cent rise and Mercedes College 1.9 per cent.
Rostrevor lowered fees this year and said they would stay the same to ensure the school remained “accessible”.
Cabra and Sacred Heart said they were trying to maintain affordability and using no or low fee rises for Year 12s to help compensate for switches to bring-your-own-device policies.