Financial Aid
Financial Aid Policy for New and Returning Families
Financial Aid Policy
Please click here to go to the SSS website to apply for Financial Aid
Through its financial aid program, Gig Harbor Academy (GHA) seeks to provide access for students from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds to a welcoming educational community. The financial aid program provides financial assistance to those who could not otherwise afford to attend the School. Aid is awarded solely on the basis of demonstrated financial need.
To accomplish this task, GHA subscribes to the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) School and Student Service (SSS) program and to NAIS’s Principles of Good Practice in Financial Aid Administration and incorporated these principles into its school-wide financial aid policy. The following reflect these principles.
1. The Finance Committee of the Board of Directors determines the amount to be allocated to financial aid from the total operating budget. In making this determination, the Finance Committee considers past levels of need, current funding availability, anticipated fundraising efforts, future tuition increases, and the requirements of the overall operating budget. The Board of Directors reviews and approves the Finance Committee’s allocations. Only the Board of Directors may authorize the allocation of funds for financial aid.
2. The Financial Aid Committee consists of the Head of School, Director of Admission and Advancement and Director of Finance and Operations. The role of the Committee is to collect applications, determine applicant qualifications and authorize awards.
3. Applicants are required to complete and submit, in a timely manner, NAIS Parent Financial Statement (PFS) form. Applicants will also be required to submit a copy of their Federal tax return with all supporting schedules, and all W-2’s and 1099’s. The Committee reserves the right to request additional information it deems necessary on a case-by-case basis.
4. Applications submitted after the published deadline will not be considered.
5. The Committee will keep all aspects of financial aid confidential and will never publish or disseminate applicant names or personal information beyond the Committee.
6. Due to changing financial circumstances from year to year, families must apply annually for financial aid. An award received in a prior year does not guarantee additional awards in current or future years. However, as long as the family demonstrates financial need, the School will continue to attempt to meet that need.
7. Each year the committee gives first priority to the consideration of applicants for renewal of financial aid to current aid recipients. The committee subsequently considers the applicants of those applying for aid the first time.
8. The School does not make grants requiring repayment.
9. Decisions by the Financial Aid Committee are final and not subject to appeal.
10. In determining demonstrated need, the Committee will consider all forms of income, both taxable and non-taxable.
11. The committee will consider all assets of the family, including trusts and other resources, regardless of the terms of the documents controlling such entities.
12. It is the policy of GHA that both parents, regardless of material status, be financially committed to the cost of their child’s attendance at GHA. In the case of parents who are divorced or who never married, the committee will assume that each parent will contribute as necessary to the payment of tuition regardless of custody arrangements or court orders.
13. In applying for financial aid, each parent, regardless of marital status must apply and demonstrate a need. If information from both parents is not available by the application deadline, the Committee may make an independent assessment regarding financial need, which may result in a lesser award or no award at all.
14. If either of a child’s natural parents remarries, or resides with a significant other, the financial information submitted to both SSS and the School must include all household income.
15. The Business Office is authorized to accept a reduced enrollment deposit from families applying for financial aid.
16. The Business Office is authorized to waive the monthly carrying charge to families granted financial aid.
17. Families receiving financial aid are expected to be responsible in their financial obligations to the School. The School will withhold re-enrollment contracts and/or aid from financially delinquent families, or from any family that misleads the school as to its need.
- A child at Our School is taught to:
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- Learn by doing. Ask questions
- Explore and test knowledge through discovery
- Find solutions logically
- Understand and appreciate the world's many cultures
- Value service toward one another and stewardship of the environment
Gig Harbor Academy welcomes and admits boys and girls of any race, color, nationality or ethnic origin, without regard to religious preference. GHA is a non-profit, independent education corporation.
The Gig Harbor Academy and Our School follow the Peninsula School District schedule. In case of emergency closures please check here for pertinent information.
