The Benilde-St. Margaret’s Board of Directors has approved a tuition increase for the 2023-2024 school year. The new tuition rates will be $17,350 for Senior High and  $14,825 for Junior High. Due to recent inflationary pressures brought on by daily operating costs, BSM will now be able to better responsibly address its budgetary needs for the upcoming year.

Before a decision like this is made, there are many factors that contribute to the end result. Benilde-St. Margaret’s President, Meghan DesLauriers, meets with Natalie Ramier, who is the CFO at BSM. Together they talk to members of the Board of Directors to try to come up with a framework of what next year’s financial budget will look like. A proposal will then be brought to the finance committee of the board, to make the final decision.

An increase in tuition is something the school must do to keep up with costs to maintain and run the school properly given this year’s increase in inflation. “For maintenance, we’ve had a lot of inflationary pressure on energy, [which means] electricity costs [increases], and anything that’s related to fuel, [like] the bussing system. We figure out where we think those [costs] are going to be and put those [new numbers] in the budget,” Ramier said.

BSM will be increasing the base of the faculty schedule, which means an average faculty raise of approximately 5.9% and staff salaries by approximately 5.5%. The increase in tuition money will help cover salary adjustments to ensure to recruit and keep the best faculty and staff, as well as the necessary facility improvements that reduce higher future costs. “Part of what was really important for us this year was to make sure that faculty and staff were getting the raises they need and deserve for next year. So that is baked into the tuition that we were proposing and part of one of the many factors that we were considering,” DesLauriers said.

The income of tuition money at BSM, all goes towards the academic decisions at the school. The money being raised is just enough to continue operating the school. Projects like new locker rooms and facilities at the Haben Center would be separate from tuition that would be a donation from current families or alumni. “75% of our budget is basically employee [and] staff wages. Then the rest is things like our class, buses, electricity bills, maintenance supplies, school supplies [and] all the goofy things that you don’t think about, till you work in a school,” Ramier said.

Even though the cost to attend school will now cost more, it will benefit the teachers and the academics the students are receiving. “I am really aware that it’s a sacrifice and we try to keep it as reasonable as we can. I would encourage if people have questions like students or parents who are concerned about it, to just come to me and I’d be happy to talk about it with them,” DesLauriers said.