Session 1: Independent School Finance (or Why Independent Schools are Bad Business Models)
Date: September 16, 2026

Session Overview: This overview of independent school finance will address budgets, financial aid, net tuition revenue, general financial and miscellaneous information, tips and recommendations, benchmarking, and more.  We will try to avoid getting too much into the weeds in order to focus on the big picture of schools and explain all the things you haven’t understood or have wondered why it was done that way. 

Session 2: Changing Admissions and Financial Aid Focus from Student Headcount to Net Tuition Revenue (NTR)
Date: September 23, 2026

Session Overview: As financial aid is becoming a larger and larger portion of school budgets, and thus a larger component of student recruitment and retention, schools need to change their budget focus and admissions goal setting from student headcount to Net Tuition Revenue (NTR). Participants will receive and review templates that allow a school to annually monitor and track their NTR, NTR per student, and NTR per grade.  This session will also identify important financial aid metrics that schools should be tracking and monitoring year by year, with recommendations on how to identify and slow down or turn around negative trends.

Session 3: Financial Planning Tools Each School Should Have
Date: September 30, 2026

Session Overview: Accreditation and strategic planning are important processes (some might say necessary evils!) that require the school’s leadership to focus on the long-term future and financial equilibrium of the school.  In this session, we will identify questions school leaders should ask, and the corresponding data each school should have, in relation to the school’s financial health, its recent history, and its future projections.  

Participants will review tools and sample presentation formats and will receive templates that they can implement at their school, including net tuition revenue analysis, cost effectiveness by division, 5-year NAIS DASL stats comparison with benchmark schools, faculty salary analysis with public schools and benchmark schools, 1-page financial dashboard, and more.  Participants will leave with tools in hand that will assist their schools in obtaining the necessary data to make informed decisions as well as analyze, project, and present the future impact of those decisions to the leadership of the school.

Session 4: Financial Lessons Learned and Mistakes Made from 25 Years as an Independent School CFO
Date: October 7, 2026

Session Overview: This presentation will discuss the five major mistakes schools make because they are not asking the right questions and four tips to help sidestep those landmines.