The tuition fees vary between different international schools, and the tuition fees for different international courses in the same school are also different.
Take international high schools (courses) in Beijing as an example. The cost difference is very large. There are many factors that cause this difference in tuition fees, mainly related to the operating costs and profit margin settings of each school.
The mainstream curriculum systems of international schools are A-Level, IB, American high school courses and Chinese and Canadian courses. Due to the cautious and strict authorization of the IBO organization, the number of IB schools opened in China is the smallest among these courses. The overall cost of running a pure IB school is 2-3 times that of other courses, so tuition fees are generally higher. Considering the current market positioning and demand, it is relatively normal for the starting price to be around 150,000.
The second is the teachers of international schools. Labor costs should be regarded as the largest expenditure in the operation of international schools. Unlike the one-time investment in hardware equipment, labor costs will increase by a certain percentage every year. To recruit some excellent, experienced and legal foreign teachers, the school must provide market-competitive salaries. At the same time, it must also provide foreign teachers with free housing or housing subsidies, medical insurance, air ticket subsidies, etc. These are all human costs.
Private international schools
Private international schools are currently one of the preferred school types for most international schools. Since these schools have no restrictions on students’ residence and nationality, they have loose admission requirements. Many of them are favored by parents. The composition of international school tuition is first and foremost tuition fees, followed by accommodation fees (some schools can also choose to study day-to-day), and the rest consists of miscellaneous fees such as: agency fees, practical course fees, school uniforms, meals, school buses, insurance, etc. wait. Annual tuition fees for private international schools range from 150,000 to 250,000.
Public International Departments
There are still many public international departments in Beijing. Public international departments have clear requirements for students’ high school entrance examination scores and nationality of residence for admission. Many international departments explicitly do not admit non-Beijing students and only accept Beijing students. In addition, high school entrance examination scores are also one of the mandatory requirements for admission to the International Department. Although the admission requirements for the Public International Department are relatively strict, in terms of tuition fees, the fees for the Public International Department have always been between RMB 80,000 and RMB 150,000, which is very affordable.