Setting your tuition and fees in early education involves many factors, some of which are beyond the control of owners and administrators. For example, what parents can afford to pay is based on what they earn and the local cost of living. What government, or other scholarship programs, will pay is typically based on available funds. 

Of course, it makes sense to focus on the factors that are within your control. And determining your actual cost per child is essential to sound fiscal management. When you know this, you can compare your operational costs to the prices you charge for care, to see if you’ve got any gaps in your budget. Your tuition fees plus any other funding sources must equal per-child cost — otherwise, your setting is losing money. 

In this article, we’ll go through just how to make those calculations.

As we go, it might help to visualize what your budget spreadsheet will look like, if you don’t already have one. You can download a budget template, as well as tools to help calculate the cost-per-child, from the ECE Shared Resources website or from First Children’s Finance.

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What you need to calculate your cost per child

The cost per child can and should be established in multiple ways. For most settings it’s essential to know the cost per child by age, as well as the cost per classroom, and in some cases it’s also helpful to know the average cost per child, regardless of their age.

To calculate the cost-per-child, you’ll need the following information:

• Staffing by classroom or age group. You’ve got to know the number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) paid staff in each classroom, their wages, and the cost of any fringe benefits. Remember to build in coverage so that teachers are able to leave the classroom to participate in supervision, training, planning, child assessments, etc. If children attend for more than 8 hours a day, you must also include additional staff for these hours.
• Any non-teaching staff assigned to your setting, and their wages and benefit costs. This might include administrative or support staff on your team, or in the case of a multi-site setting, staff move around and provide administrative support at the different locations.
• ‍A current budget for each setting that includes all costs. To put it all in perspective, you’ve got to know your costs for classroom personnel, non-classroom personnel, and non-personnel costs, which includes everything from your art supplies to your monthly rent. This often works well when you calculate it as your total annual costs.

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How to calculate your cost per child

Once you’ve got the information you need, here’s how you can calculate the average cost per child:

1. First, for each classroom, or age group, add up the costs of all staff working specifically in that classroom.
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2. Then, decide on how you want to divide up your costs that aren’t associated with a specific classroom. This includes non-classroom staff (such as a director, cook, or assistant) and expenses like food, utilities and maintenance. You can factor these costs either by child (total costs divided by total number of children) or by classroom (total costs divided by the number of classrooms).
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3. To calculate your costs for each classroom, add the in-classroom staff’s payroll costs, plus all the other costs described in #2 above. This is the total cost of that classroom.
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4. Divide the total cost of that classroom (the result you get in #3 above) by the average number of children enrolled in that classroom (remember to use the actual or projected enrollment, not the classroom capacity). This is the cost per child by classroom.
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5. To determine the average cost per child in the entire setting, simply divide the total cost of operating the program, including all personnel and non-personnel costs in all classrooms as well as in the administration, by the number of children enrolled.
   

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Using every element of the Iron Triangle

In tough fiscal times, when government and philanthropy are cutting budgets and parents are squeezed financially, early educators often face a difficult choice: keep fees high and risk increased vacancy rates and higher bad debt, or lower fees to boost cash flow. 

There’s no simple answer here. But if you get a better handle on the data behind your finances, you’ll have an easier time finding your best path forward.

Keep in mind, focusing on tuition rates as your primary revenue driver can be short sighted. My experience with cost modelling suggests that other sides of the Iron Triangle (enrollment and fee collection) can sometimes make a bigger difference in your bottom line.

Increasing tuition only generates more money if you’ve got full occupancy. If raising tuition reduces occupancy you are in a zero-sum game. If the government raises the reimbursement rate but the required family co-payment remains very high, an early years provider may not see increased revenue because bad debt increased in near-equal measure.  

In short, program managers need to understand exactly where and why they are losing money and begin gathering data to guide decision-making before multiple small losses build and cripple sustainability. Understanding each element of the Iron Triangle finance model will give you a solid groundwork for keeping your finances sustainable in the long run.‍

Louise Stoney is an independent consultant with over 30 years’ experience in early care and education finance and policy. In 2009, Louise co-founded Opportunities Exchange, a non-profit organization focused on transforming the business of early care and education to improve outcomes for children.You can learn more and get in touch with Louise at www.stoneyassociates.com or www.opportunities-exchange.org

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