Financial Aid - Affording a Cate Education

Cate School is committed to helping families finance their children's tuition costs. Cate makes need-based financial aid awards ranging from several thousand dollars to the full cost of tuition to families from a broad range of income levels. However, for our financial aid program to be truly effective and to aid as many deserving families as possible, it is expected that families will make their children's education a financial priority.

For the 2012-13 school year, 30 percent of the student body shares $2,850,000 in financial aid. The goal of Cate's financial aid program is twofold: to attract and enroll students from diverse cultural, ethnic, economic, and geographic backgrounds, and to offer a unique educational opportunity to deserving students who lack the means themselves. 

The financial aid committee administers Cate's financial aid program. Awards are strictly need-based and follow the guidelines of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Financial aid decisions are based on a family's ability to finance their child's education as demonstrated by the methodology of the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) of Princeton, New Jersey. The SSS helpline is (609) 771-7770.

Within the limitations of its budget, and according to its own financial aid policies, Cate uses the SSS recommendations as a guideline in determining individual awards. While the admission and financial aid programs at Cate are separate processes, we attempt to notify all new students and their families of our financial aid decisions at the same time that we notify them of our admission decisions.