Affordability

Tuition and Financial Assistance

St. Catherine’s School is proud that we offer an all-girls Episcopal education for girls ages 3 through grade 12. We are committed to providing an exceptional opportunity to talented girls from across the Richmond region. We firmly believe that a stellar education for your daughter is an investment in her future. We, too, invest in girls by providing need-based financial assistance, with $3 million grants awarded this school year.

We Invest in Girls

List of 3 items.

22% of students

receive financial assistance
$3 Million

total assistance awarded
$14,589

average need-based financial assistance grant

Financial Assistance

Our Financial Assistance Program helps bridge the gap between a family’s resources and the total cost of education by reducing a family's contribution through a financial assistance grant based on demonstrated need. Grants are awarded to families with a variety of household incomes. Financial assistance applications are confidential.

Since every family's needs are different and many variables determine need-based assistance, please contact Jennifer Cullinan, Director of Admissions, with any specific questions.

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Tuition and Fees
2023-2024 Tuition

Lower School
- Early Learners (age 3): $18,650
- Junior Kindergarten: $18,800
- Kindergarten: $25,200
- Grades 1-2: $25,950
- Grades 3-4: $26,950
Middle School
- Grades 5-8: $29,500
Upper School
- Grades 9-12: $31,980
Additional fees vary by grade. A full list of Terms and Charges for the 2023-2024 school year can be found here.
Tuition Payment Plans
To help families better manage student expenses, St. Catherine’s School partners with Blackbaud Tuition Management, a company that provides several payment options:
- One-Payment Plan: Pay tuition in full by June 1.
- Three-Payment Plan: Pay 40% of the tuition by June 1, 40% by Sept. 1 and the remaining 20% by Feb. 1. There is an annual $45 Blackbaud Tuition Management administrative fee for this plan.
- Ten-Payment Plan: Pay tuition in 10 monthly installments. The ten-pay plan option begins on May 1 and ends on February 1 of each academic year. There is an annual $45 Blackbaud Tuition Management administrative fee for this plan.
Financial Assistance Application Process
St. Catherine's School partners with School and Student Services by NAIS (SSS) in our financial assistance process. To begin your application, please complete the Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS). You only need to complete one PFS, even if you are applying for multiple children. Completing the PFS online will save you time and money and will allow St. Catherine's to make a decision more quickly.

Step 1 – Preparing to apply
- Technical Considerations: When applying online, Google Chrome is the recommended browser.
- Parents’ Financial Statement Workbook and Instruction Booklet. This is a helpful document to read through before you begin the application. It outlines each area along with definitions and explanations for the questions included in the PFS. Whether this is your first time or you have completed the PFS in the past, it is a valuable guide for you to follow!
- St. Catherine's School code is 6370.
Step 2 – Completing your PFS
- Go to SSS by NAIS for Families
- Login to the PFS online:
- Applicant families: If you are applying for the first time, click on the teal “New Users: Create an Account”. You will be asked to enter a Partner Code: 6370, your name, address, phone number and email address and to select a password.
- Current St. Catherine's families: If you applied last year, enter your login and password from last year in the section titled, “Returning Families.” If you have forgotten your login information, click on “Rest your Password.”
- Begin a PFS for the Academic Year 2023-2024
- Please use your legal name, as it appears on your Federal Income Tax 1040 form, as well as your daughter’s legal name, as it appears on her birth certificate and St. Catherine's application for admission. Variations in name, yours or your daughter's, can result in a delayed evaluation for financial assistance.
- Once you begin your PFS, you can complete and submit your information in one sitting or you can save your information and revisit at any time, provided you submit by December 12, 2022 (current student families) and February 1, 2023 (applicant student families). If you choose to complete in one sitting, allow 2 hours to review the resources and collect the information, then another two hours to complete the application. Remember, it is time well spent!
- Since the deadline is December 12, 2022 (current student families) and February 1, 2023 (applicant families), you will use your Federal Income Tax form 1040 from 2021 to complete your PFS.
- If you have questions as you complete the PFS, please contact SSS customer service at 800-344-8328.
Step 3 – Pay for and submit your PFS

Whew! The hard part is over; you have completed all of the information and now you can submit your PFS. Great job!

The fee to submit is $60 and represents a flat fee, regardless of the number of children or number of schools.

Step 4 – Submit the required documents

The following documents are required to complete your Parent Financial Statement. These documents are due on or before December 12, 2022 (current families) and February 1, 2023 (applicant families).
1. Upload a copy of your 2021 completed IRS 1040 income tax return (signed with all schedules)
2. Upload a copy of your 2021 W-2 forms (if applicable)
3. Upload a copy of your most recent paycheck/paystub.
4. Upload materials requested by SSS after your application is submitted (ex. 2022 W2 forms, 2022 1040, etc.)
Note: Other documents will be required depending on family circumstances.

Please submit this information directly to SSS:
- To submit these forms online, go to the Manage Documents tab in the PFS Online. There, you can upload documents from your computer. Save each document separately in one of the following formats: Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel, .jpg, .gif, or .tif. On the Manage Documents tab, click “Browse,” “Locate the Document” and then click “Upload.”
- SSS is no longer accepting mailed documents. Please upload documents directly to the SSS Portal.
Do not send document copies to St. Catherine’s School.

By May 1, 2023, you must upload the following documents to SSS if you did not already do so by the original deadline:
1. 2022 IRS Federal 1040 Form
2. 2022 W-2 Forms (unless self-employed)
Note: All Financial Assistance awards are verified using your Federal Income Tax 1040 form. St. Catherine's reserves the right to amend financial aid awards in the event the self-reported information on the PFS differs from the information included on the Federal Income Tax 1040 form.
Financial Assistance Guidelines
All financial assistance is determined through a confidential annual analysis of a family’s financial assistance application through School and Student Services (SSS), a service of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). There are many different variables that are taken into consideration, such as how many children are in the family. Based on the information that families provide, SSS gives us an estimated amount that a family can contribute to educational expenses.

St. Catherine’s adheres to the following criteria when evaluating a family’s application for need-based financial assistance:
- Need-blind admission: Qualified students are accepted for admission regardless of the family’s ability to pay. Once accepted through the admission process, a separate and confidential financial aid process is conducted.
- Need-based awards: Financial assistance grants are awarded on the basis of a family’s demonstrated financial need. Eligibility for assistance is determined by the School’s Financial Assistance Committee based on its evaluation of the Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS), which is conducted by the School and Student Services (SSS) by National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and a copy of the family’s current and complete Federal Income Tax forms, supporting schedules and W-2 forms.
- Parental responsibility: The primary responsibility for tuition rests with the family. In evaluating financial information, St. Catherine's Financial Assistance Committee takes into account the number of children in the household, ages of children, schools of children, additional dependents, assets and all sources of income. In addition, the School considers lifestyle choices, debts, expenses and spending priorities. Financial assistance applicants are expected to adhere to all application deadlines and must submit all paperwork on time.
- Confidentiality: The School upholds the confidentiality of personal financial data throughout the financial assistance process and expects families to maintain the confidentiality of awards granted.
- Renewal: Financial assistance is evaluated each year based on demonstration of continued financial need, as well as evidence that the student continues to exhibit satisfactory academic progress and good citizenship and that the family maintains a favorable financial standing with the School’s Business Office.
- Priority: A family must complete the Parent Financial Statement and submit all required documentation via SSS prior to all deadlines. Priority is given to current students who have received aid previously, followed by new students or current students whose families are applying for aid for the first time.
- Awarding: Applying for financial assistance does not guarantee award eligibility. Eligibility for financial assistance does not guarantee that financial aid funds are available.
Divorce or Separation
- Full participation is expected from all biological parents, step-parents and/or the adults with whom the child lives or has financial influence and responsibility in the student’s life.
- In the process of evaluating a family’s financial situation, the financial assistance process requires complete documentation from all parties and full transparency of all those identified in the categories listed above, regardless of divorce, separation or estrangement. A financial assistance award will not be issued unless all required information from all parties is provided.
- St. Catherine's School is not bound by any decrees, agreements or legal documents excusing a parent from financial responsibility for his or her child’s education.
Important Financial Assistance Dates

Financial Assistance Key Dates for the 2023-2024 Enrollment:

Current Student Families:
Nov. 1, 2022: For families who have requested financial aid information on the admissions application, St. Catherine’s will send detailed instructions electronically.
Dec. 12, 2022: Financial assistance application submission deadline for current St. Catherine's families

Applicant Student Families:
Dec. 1, 2022: For families who have requested financial aid information on the admissions application, St. Catherine’s will send detailed instructions electronically.
February 1, 2023: Financial assistance application submission deadline for applicant families
Financial Assistance for Extended Day at St. Christopher’s (After-School Care)

If your JK-grade 8 daughter will be enrolled in the after-school Extended Day program at St. Christopher’s School and you would like to be considered for a financial assistance grant for the program, please indicate so in your PFS on Question 21d., -included the number of days per week and the hours you will need care (3 or 5 days per week, until 4 p.m. or 6 p.m.). St. Catherine's Financial Assistance Office will communicate directly with St. Christopher's Financial Assistance Office when considering awards.
Merit Scholarship for New Upper School Students

St. Catherine’s awards one merit-based scholarship (up to $15,000 annually) to the recipient during her school years at St. Catherine’s, provided that she remains in good standing. At the conclusion of each school year, the scholarship recipient’s academic performance and school conduct will be reviewed to ensure that she continues to meet the standards established by the scholarship. The scholarship recipient will be notified with her admissions decision and will be named a First Citizens Bank Scholar during her time at St. Catherine’s.

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St. Catherine's is an independent Episcopal school that welcomes qualified students without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation or national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to the students by the School.