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 (FACTS). 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 2023-2024 school year as early as Jan. 1, 2023. The application process takes time, so start early! Please note that if you begin the online process before mid-January, 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.

In order to be eligible when the greatest amount of financing is available, and to receive award information for the 2023-2024 school year by March 17, 2023, the following deadlines must be met:

• Upload or postmarked mailing of all 2022 tax documents—no later than Feb. 28, 2023
• Online submission of completed application—no later than Feb. 28, 2023

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

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.

There will be a FACTS link posted at the top of the page. It will not appear until the application is open. After Feb. 28, 2023, the link will remain open for families to complete a 2023-2024 application already in progress. 

After completing the online application, you will be required to upload or mail all of your 2022 tax documents for both state and federal taxes, with all schedules and W-2’s.

As a general rule, we require financial disclosure of all parents regardless of the status by which they have filed their taxes, to include both natural parents as well as any stepparents where a divorced parent has remarried. The same is true for civil unions as well as “common law” couples. “Deadbeat” dads or moms are not exempted, and in fact, their refusal to complete disclosure forms may impair the child’s chances for assistance. The only exceptions tend to be when we cannot identify a responsible party. 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.

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 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.

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.