Financial Information

GHCS Offers Tuition Assistance Ideas!

Do you or a family you know sincerely desire to provide a Christian education for your children and have a genuine financial need? Grand Haven Christian has its own Tuition Assistance Fund. In order to be considered, please contact the school's office and request a FACTS tuition assistance form. FACTS forms are sent home with every current family in January. New families may receive one by contacting the school office. These forms must be completed and mailed along with requested financial information by the end of the first week of March.

Phone: (616) 842-5420 - Email: richardgeertsma@hotmail.com

From the GHCS Finance Committee:

Dear GHCS Parents, Grand Haven Christian School contracts with FACTS Tuition Assessment Services to help us in the area of tuition assistance for qualifying families. FACTS is a nation-wide organization that works with tuition-based school across the country to help distribute available tuition assistance money in a fair and equitable manner. We use FACTS for the following reasons:

1. Objectivity: By outsourcing the information and having it analyzed by a third party, the committee will receive an objective, professional analysis of a family’s financial situation.
2. Privacy: All financial information is mailed directly to FACTS. The Finance Committee does not view it, but receives a written report from FACTS giving advice as to who qualifies for tuition reduction/assistance and the amount for which they could qualify.
3. Equitability: Every family who desires tuition reduction/assistance will be required to fill in the same form and submit the same tax information to FACTS.
4. Flexibility: The Finance Committee retains the right to make a final decision on each application. Assistance depends on the school’s available monetary resources. The committee can also work with families who find themselves in a unique financial situation.

Feel free to contact any of the committee members listed below if you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely,
The GHCS Finance Committee
Karen DeGram,
Curt TerHaar,
Dan Reiffer

From Mr. Geertsma

One of the more confusing aspects of enrollment is the concept of "cost" vs. "tuition". Cost is the actual dollar amount that the school spends to educate a student for one year. Cost is determined by taking the amount of the budget, subtract out the preschool and after-school care expenses (they are, by policy, to be self-funded), and divide by the number of full-time students for that year. Approximately 80% of expenses goes to employee salaries and benefits. The remaining 20% covers supplies, building expenses, promotion, etc.

Tuition is cost minus the income generated by non-tuition sources. Non-tuition income generates about $800.00 per student. These funds come primarily from two sources: The GRACE Board and Endowment. All families who pay tuition receive the benefits of the fund-raising of these two sources.

At enrollment, the board will ask families if they would be willing to pay cost. Those that do pay cost take a lot of pressure off of the fund-raising groups, and also enable the board to put more money toward targeted tuition assistance for families that qualify. At this time, no one is required to pay cost. The Finance Committee is, however, looking into that possibility in the future since fund-raising is getting more difficult and more families are in need of financial assistance.

-Mr. Geertsma