The charge for tuition, room and board for the 2009-2010 academic year is $42,675. The day student charge is $25,360. These fees include all expenses except books, laundry, medical insurance, and certain costs for skiing and snowboarding. A tuition increase for next year is likely.

Holderness understands that not every family can afford the cost of independent school education. Therefore, Holderness offers financial aid opportunities for qualified students. Over 40% of Holderness School students receive financial aid, totalling more than $2.5 million in awards annually.

The ideal financial aid candidate is a highly motivated student who has demonstrated ability, promise, and character. That candidate is also one who will both gain from and contribute to the Holderness experience. In addition, the student's family needs to demonstrate clear and compelling financial need. All financial aid information is confidential and will be held until the candidate graduates or decides not to enroll.


How Does It Work?

Holderness School uses a nationally standardized system for financial analysis offered by the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) based in Princeton, NJ. SSS's basic view is that parents should finance their children's education to the extent that they are able. Each family completes a Parents' Financial Statement (PFS) and submits it to SSS. SSS uses the PFS to determine a suggested family contribution for educational expenses. Income, assets, family size, indebtedness, parents' ages and necessary expenses are taken into consideration. SSS then sends a Report of Family Contribution to Holderness School, where the Holderness Financial Aid Committee reviews the application. The Holderness Financial Aid Committee looks at the need and also considers a student's school performance, test scores, recommendations, extracurricular involvement and impressions from the personal interview when determining an award amount.

When filing, please reference the school code 3946 for the Holderness School.


Financial Aid Decisions

All financial aid decisions are mailed on March 10th with Admission Decision Letters. It is important to understand that applying for financial aid is a separate process from applying for admission to Holderness School. Because funding is limited, Holderness cannot offer financial aid to every accepted student who also qualifies for financial aid. Therefore, there are three possible outcomes for financial aid decisions:

1. A student is accepted for admission and awarded financial aid up to the amount suggested by SSS
2. A student is accepted for admission and denied financial aid
3. A student is accepted for admission and waitlisted for financial aid

If a student is denied financial aid and still decides to enroll at Holderness, please understand that this means a long-term financial commitment on the family's part. The family will be expected to pay full tuition, room and board for each year the student attends Holderness.


Financial Aid After February 1

To increase a student's chance of receiving a financial aid award, it is best to submit the Holderness School application on or before February 1st. Holderness will continue to process late financial aid applications once it has received all necessary information, but the likelihood of a financial aid award after the deadline decreases as time passes.


Returning Students Receiving Financial Aid

Once a student has been awarded financial aid from Holderness, the family needs to submit the PFS, 1040s and W2s each subsequent year. Typically, as long as a family continues to demonstrate the same level of need, financial aid will continue to be awarded at the same level (as a percentage of the total tuition).


Financing Options

In the event that an applicant is accepted but not awarded financial aid, financing options are available in the form of loans through agencies that specialize in student financing.  Holderness School works with the following agency: