Tuition, again.

Tomorrow night our Board will be discussing the budget for next year, and in particular, what we will do with tuition. The Finance Committee and Executive Committee have already examined the issue, they will be making a recommendation to the Board. We will be looking at our budget and cash flow needs as well as economic realities. It is likely to be a good discussion.

I can't go into the details of the proposal, but I can say that there is a recommendation for an increase in tuition next year. That should not surprise anyone; it costs a lot to run a school like Kadima, and it costs more and more each year. Virtually every school raises tuition each year. We tried lowering it 25 percent one year in an effort to stimulate admissions, but like the government's stimulus package, it was not enough to trigger an admissions stampede to the school; a stampede that was necessary to offset the reduction in tuition collections. As a result, the following year we only provided only a 5 percent reduction from the original cost.

Ultimately, we learned that people will pay--to the extent that they can--for a good educational product. We have it at Kadima.

So tomorrow night we will discuss and wrestle with tuition issues. As always, it is likely to be a good discussion.