Tuition, Fees & Assistance

The WMS Board of Trustees is committed to building and maintaining a diverse student body, so it devotes significant funds to tuition assistance. The WMS Tuition Assistance Committee offers aid to qualified students, based on school policies, demonstrated financial need and available funds.

No. Each student is expected to maintain the high personal and academic qualities shown at the time of admission to the school.

WMS does not discriminate in the administration of our tuition assistance policies on the basis of race, color, nationality, religion, gender, sexual identity, disability, age, national or ethnic origin, or other legally protected status. Using a uniform methodology, we annually assess each family’s ability to pay for education. Financial need is not a consideration in determining a student’s eligibility for admission, as all financial award decisions are made independently from admission decisions. Providing all deadlines have been met, applicant families will be notified of tuition assistance decisions before they are expected to give a binding reply to the school with an enrollment agreement.

The Tuition Assistance Committee attempts to ensure that each family is subject to the same guidelines by evaluating the needs of every applicant family relative to the needs of other applicants. The committee also reviews any appeals or requests for changes in aid awards. The committee comprises key administrative staff and non-parent members of the Board of Trustees. The committee maintains strict confidentiality, accessing only information that is necessary and relevant to its mission.

WMS subscribes to a third-party financial aid evaluation program. This program does not decide whether financial assistance will be given or how much to give; it provides a need-based tuition assistance analysis service. The school is provided with a report, which includes a recommendation of what a family should reasonably contribute towards tuition. All information entered by families and reported to the school is kept confidential. Applications and reports are reviewed by the Tuition Assistance Committee, who then determines the awards.

Families begin an online tuition assistance application for the 2025-2026 school year as early as Dec. 1, 2024. The application process takes time, so start early! Please note that if you begin the online process before mid-January 2025, the tuition amount that you see will be for the current school year; we will post updated tuition rates for the next school year when the Board of Trustees approves them in mid-January 2025.

Prospective families must submit both an admissions application and a tuition assistance application to be considered for tuition assistance. 

In order to be eligible when the greatest amount of financing is available, and to receive award information for the 2025-2026 school year by Feb. 2025, the following will need to be uploaded by Jan. 31, 2025 (priority deadline). All supporting documentation can be uploaded in PDF or JPEG format online:

• Copies of your 2023 Federal tax forms including all supporting tax schedules. 
• Copies of your 2024 W-2 forms.
• Copies of supporting documentation for Social Security Income, Welfare, Child Support, Food Stamps, Workers’ Compensation, and TANF.
• Copies of your 2024 Federal tax forms including all supporting tax schedules, must be uploaded as soon as available.

Families may still apply after these deadlines, and awards will continue to be made to eligible families until tuition assistance funds are depleted.

Whomever the child resides with should complete this application whether it is a parent, grandparent, aunt/uncle, or legal guardian. There is a section within the application where you can enter contributions from non-custodial parents and relatives.

There will be a button/link posted at the top of the page when the application is open (starting Dec. 1, 2024). It will not appear until the application is open.

All families, including those who are currently receiving tuition assistance, must annually submit a new application for financial assistance. Families must apply each year, so any changes will be accurately reflected in the assessment of financial need. Prospective families must submit both an admissions application and a tuition assistance application to be considered for tuition assistance. 

After completing the online application, you will be required to upload or mail all of your all of your 2023 tax returns and 2024 W-2's.

The priority TA application deadline for all families is Jan. 31, 2025. 

Section 1 – Household Information

Parent/Guardian: Enter the parent or guardian’s contact information. Dependent: Enter all dependents that live in the household.

For dependents in college, select the “attending another private school” status option.

Section 2 – Selecting A School

Enter your school’s five-digit code (15598) or name in the search box. If you want to search for schools near you that are participating in the Blackbaud Financial Aid Management program, you can search by city and state. Make your selection by checking the select check box. Once a school or multiple schools are selected, you will then need to select the student(s) you wish to apply for aid at the appropriate school(s). After the school(s) have been selected, you will then need to select the upcoming grade for the student, student code (if applicable), and expected tuition (if applicable) for the upcoming year. Clicking “next” after each section will allow you to move on to each subsequent section.

Section 3 – Income & Expenses

Enter any income the household receives; employment, business or supplemental. If the work status is selected as ‘employed’, ‘self-employed’, ‘unemployed, receiving benefits’, or ‘disabled, receiving benefits,’ you will be required to enter this income source in the appropriate section before moving through the application. Please enter all expenses as they pertain to your household.

Section 4 – Assets & Debts

Enter all assets and debts as they pertain to your household.

Section 5 – Special Circumstances

Check off any special circumstance that pertains to your household. If no option available best describes your household’s circumstance, please check ‘other’ and describe your situation. This information is confidential and will only be available to designated School Administration and Blackbaud Financial Aid Management staff.

Section 6 – Submit

If your school uses family school codes, please make the appropriate selection. Agree to Blackbaud Financial Aid Management’s terms and conditions, then click SUBMIT to complete your online application.

Please be sure to enter all fields with accuracy.

Documentation should be submitted at the time the application is completed. Please be advised that each document must be uploaded separately under the appropriate document type in order for your application to automatically move into the “Documents Received” status, and ready for review.

Upon submission of your application, you will be informed which documentation you are required to upload. You will receive this information when you submit the application on the confirmation page, via email, and you may also see the documents when you go to the Documents tab of your account. Please upload all documents in a timely manner as your application will not proceed to the verification process until all required documents are submitted. Some common examples of documents required are: US Federal Income Tax Form 1040 (2023), W2 (2024), and paystub. If you own a business, you will be required to upload business documentation as well, which will include schedules and forms related to the type of business.

Include the most recent tax documentation you have available. If you are asked for a specific line from a tax document that you have not yet completed, please estimate the projected amount.

We require financial disclosure of all parents or guardians who have legal authority and responsibility to make educational and financial decisions on behalf of the student regardless of the status by which they have filed their taxes. The only exceptions tend to be when an additional potentially responsible party cannot be identified or contacted. Custodial financial arrangements often do not have a bearing on aid eligibility as we consider all parents to share responsibility for the child’s development and educational success.

 Blackbaud Financial Aid Management’s calculation works off of the total household income, therefore including all income, whether the party is legally responsible for your children or not. Our system however, does take into effect your spouse’s expenses as well as their income. It is important to list all expenses that are asked of within the application.

Once an application has been submitted and paid for, it can no longer be edited by a parent. However, if changes are necessary, a written statement with the change (including the application ID), should be sent to support@studentfinancialaid.blackbaud.school. 

Should you need more aid due to job loss, etc. or need less aid due to an increase in resources, you should contact the Tuition Assistance Committee via the WMS Business Office.

Your Tuition Solution provides low, fixed-rate loans to parents of K-12 accredited independent school students. You may contact them at 1-800-920-9777 or visit www.yourtuitionsolution.com for more information.

To appeal a tuition assistance decision, a family should address the Tuition Assistance Committee in writing and include any additional information and/or special circumstance that has occurred since the submission of the application that would warrant reconsideration. It may also be helpful to submit additional information that may not have been included in your original application, such as monthly expenses, copies of recent pay stubs or unusual expenses. However, because offers will already have been made to other families, WMS cannot guarantee that funding will be available to modify offers based on information received after the priority deadline. The school’s inability to supply tuition assistance or a family’s not qualifying for tuition assistance does not excuse families from honoring the terms of their signed enrollment agreement(s) with the school.

Due to the addition financial documents and reviewer processes required, the application for business owners has an additional fee amount.

Blackbaud Financial Aid Management:

• Phone Support: (800)-360-8027
• Email Support: support@studentfinancialaid.blackbaud.school
• Once logged into your account, click the icon in the lower right corner of your screen to live chat with Blackbaud.