Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge Center
The Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge Center is a clearinghouse devoted to researching, analyzing, and disseminating knowledge and noteworthy practices about tuition affordability programs and methodologies.
The Affordability Knowledge Center brings together the strengths and skills of PEJE and the Orthodox Union (OU), underscoring our mutual concern for the vitality and sustainability of Jewish day schools. Read the joint press release.
Webinars
If you were not able to join the April 24, 2013 webinar on Blended Learning, you can listen to it here. You can also view the presentation here, along with the chat history here.
If you were not able to join the February 20, 2013 webinar on Middle Income Strategies, you can listen to it here and view the presentation here.
If you were not able to join the December 20, 2012 webinar on Kehillah Funds, you can listen to it here.
Affordability Knowledge Center Publications
"According to His Way": Blended Learning investigates how blended learning is, or might, be a tool for JDS affordability.
"And You Shall Strengthen Your Brother": Middle-Income Strategies, our comprehensive report on school- and community-wide efforts in North America to put JDS within reach of middle-income families.
Read the first Affordability Knowledge Center White Paper: an in-depth analysis of Kehillah Funds, a strategy used by schools or communities trying to solve their particular affordability challenge.
Shalom TV Announcement of the new Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge Center
We Want to Hear From You!
Please share what your school or community is doing to make your Jewish day school more affordable. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , Manager of the JDS Knowledge Affordability Center, and comment on recent blogs:
- July 17: Jewish Day School Affordability Is Not a Werewolf—It’s a Cholent
- August 1: Hi! Nice to Meet You! I Don’t Know Anything About You
“Communities and day schools seek innovative and effective ways to address tuition affordability. The Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge Center meets this need by creating a centralized location for analyzing and sharing data. Our partnership [with OU], and the expertise and thought leadership our respective organizations bring to the table, is testament to the need for collaboration around today’s major issues, and the value of marshaling the Jewish community’s collective knowledge and experience.”
— Amy Katz, Executive Director of PEJE
“Addressing the Jewish day school affordability challenge is a top priority for the Jewish day school community, and thus for the Orthodox Union. While we are working to address the issue in a variety of ways, there has been no ‘central address’ for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating information. The Orthodox Union is pleased to be partnering with PEJE to fill this critical gap.”
— Nathan Diament, Executive Director of Public Policy for the Orthodox Union
Resources
Thank you for visiting our resource center! If you know of relevant articles or research relating to affordability, please share them, and we will post them here.
Relevant Research
- “What Google and Amazon Can Teach Jewish Day Schools about Student Recruitment” eJewish Philanthropy
- The Impact of a Day School Education: A Comparative Analysis
- The Impact of Childhood Jewish Education on Adults' Jewish Identity: Schooling, Israel Travel, Camping and Youth Groups
- Yeshiva University Institute for University-School Partnership Jewish Day School Affordability Toolkit
- AJC report on Talking Dollars And Sense About Jewish Education
- Institute for Higher Education Policy's Is College Affordable? In Search of a Meaningful Definition
- OU's 2011 Summit on the Affordability of Jewish Education: Report
Books
- Visions of Jewish Education, edited by Seymour Fox et al.
- Family Matters: Jewish Education in an Age of Choice, edited by Dr. Jack Wertheimer
Articles and Blogs
- “Selling Torah: Talking Points on the Value of Jewish Education” eJewish Philanthropy
- “What Google and Amazon Can Teach Jewish Day Schools about Student Recruitment” eJewish Philanthropy
- “More Expensive by the Dozen” Jewish Ideas Daily
- “It’s a New Year, Let’s Embark on a Real Day School Initiative” Jewish Exponent
- “The Challenge of Day School Affordability: Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize” Jewish Journal
- “The Check Is in the Mail: Reflections on a Quarter Century of Jewish Day School Tuition” by Arnie Samlan
- “School Choice Law Brings Jewish Day School Students Over $11 Million in Scholarship Funding” Baltimore Jewish Life
- “Freedom School fights summer learning loss” Charlotte Observer
- “Enrolment up at Winnipeg’s Gray Academy” Canadian Jewish News
- "Kohelet Foundation's SmartSchool Program" eJewish Philanthropy
- "How To Find Out What Customers Will Pay" Harvard Business Review
- "A Holistic Approach to Day School Affordability" BJE Los Angelese
- “Yeshiva Day School Financing: A Case Study,” by Micah Segelman
- “Middle Income Day School Affordability: A Case Study,” by Dan Perla
- “The Day School Financial Enterprise and Its Systemic Underfunding,” by Dan Perla
- “Why Yeshivah Day Schools Can't (and Shouldn't) Charge Catholic School Tuitions,” by Tobey Finkelstein
- “Operation Jewish Education: The 5% Answer,” by George Hanus
- “Affordability, the Challenge of Jewish Life,” by Simcha Katz
- “The High Cost of Jewish Living,” by Jack Wertheimer
- "Trending in the Jewish Day School Field: Tuition Grant Programs," by Ross Bloom
- “Day School Crisis: Parents, Administrators Say Rising Costs Render System Unsustainable” Baltimore Jewish Times
- “Are Day School Vouchers the Answer?” Jewish Ideas Daily
Links to Day School Affordability Efforts
Pittsburghjewishdayschools.com
All three Jewish day schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, offer free tuition for transfer students from public or non-Jewish private school.
Families may be eligible for three CJP Discover Day School Checks, each covering 25% (up to $6,000) toward their child’s day school tuition in Greater Boston.
- For K-8th grade students entering day school for the first time in Fall 2013
- Must be first child in the family to attend a Jewish day school
- Applicable toward 2013-2014 tuition and subsequent two grades in a K-8 day school of your choice
- Targeted to “middle tier” income families
Jewish Education for Generations (JEFG) is a pioneering community association comprised of Northern New Jersey day schools, rabbinic leaders, and communal and national organizations that are collaborating to address the issue of Jewish day school affordability.
JEFG has three main goals:
- Revise the current day school economic model by engaging the broader community
- Achieve greater quality and efficiency by implementing creative solutions and sharing best practices across the network of schools
- Identify and secure all available sources of private and public funding.
The Kehillah Jewish Education Fund of AFTA (Association for Torah Advancement)is dedicated to making an authentic Jewish education - coupled with an excellent secular education - available and affordable to all Jewish families in our community. Meant to raise one-third of the cost of Jewish education, this subsidy will facilitate smaller tuition increases for all families, better paid teachers and better educated children, as well as encourage many Jews to choose the Jewish Day School system as a viable alternative to public school and enable schools to offer more scholarships for those that simply cannot afford it.
The Kohelet Foundation has teamed up with nine schools to form the Jewish Day School Collaborative of Greater Philadelphia. The Collaborative provides grants for one-third of the day school tuition after financial aid, for up to four years in elementary school; three years in middle school; and four years in high school. The qualifications vary slightly based on whether a student is in elementary, middle, or high school.
Thanks to an extraordinary program sponsored by the Jim Joseph Foundation, partial tuition grants are now available for qualified students to attend one of five Jewish high schools in Los Angeles, California.
Government Funding
Several states have funds available, including tax credit or voucher programs, for specific programs. They may also make it easier for low-income families to afford private school, including Jewish day school. Here are links to information about programs in those states:
State-specific information
General information
- State Funds for Private Education: A Primer on Vouchers & Tax Credit Scholarships
- Energy-Efficiency Rebates
- Federal Funding for Non-Public Schools
- Federal Government’s Office of Non-Public Education
Related Affordability Resources
Early Childhood
The centerpiece of Chicago's Right Start program is a gift voucher that substantially offsets the cost of Jewish early childhood education. The voucher can be applied to the tuition of the first child in one’s immediate family to attend a participating Jewish preschool or day care. It is not based on need. Tuition reimbursement is based on the number of days per week a child is enrolled.
Overnight Camp
The Foundation for Jewish Camp partners with local funders to provide $1,000 incentive grants to campers attending Jewish overnight camp for 19 days or more for the first time.
The Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge Center is a joint initiative of PEJE and the Orthodox Union (OU).