Access & Affordability
Tuition & Expenses
Tuition for the 2023-2024 school year is $21,000. Tuition for the 2024-2025 school year will be $22,365.
Non-tuition expenses include a laptop, headphones, books, and general supplies.
Affordability
If the full tuition is a stretch for your family, The Downtown School has financial aid available for the 2024-2025 school year. All awards are based on financial need. Currently, 17% of our student body receives some amount of financial aid, and we are engaged in raising a financial aid endowment in order to provide aid to more families.
When determining a family’s financial need, The Downtown School reviews its income, assets, debts, and medical and other family circumstances, including whether the family has multiple children attending tuition-charging schools.
Awards for the 2023-2024 school year range from $2,000 to $20,790. Please note: During our current rolling admissions season (2024), most of our available financial aid for the 2024-2025 school year has been allocated. Applicants who qualify for admission but require more financial aid than we currently have available will be placed in a financial aid wait pool.
Applying for Aid
Financial aid applications are separate from the admissions application. Students who are admissible, but for whom we cannot meet financial need, will be placed into a waitpool.
In order to be eligible for financial aid, you must submit a financial aid application each year. Our application will open for the 2024-2025 school year in October, 2023.
As of the 2023-2024 school year, The Downtown School has shifted to evaluating prior year taxes (rather than current year) and is using a new financial aid platform, Clarity. Reasons for these changes can be found in the FAQs below.
Clarity Application Reference Guides (available in English and Spanish).
We also invite you to watch our recent informational session, in which Director of Data & Operations Ashleigh Harper discusses financial aid availability and the process of applying for financial aid at The Downtown School.
+ Application Steps
The Downtown School uses Clarity to process our financial aid applications. Below are the steps you need to complete in order to be considered for financial aid.
- If you are applying to The Downtown School for the first time, indicate on your Admissions application that you will be applying for financial aid.
- Visit Clarity and click “Sign In” to login or create an account.
- Complete household & applicant information.
- Add schools and select “The Downtown School (Seattle, WA)”
- Sign and submit a Form 4506c within Clarity. This grants them permission to access your 2022 year tax returns directly from the IRS, eliminating the need for you to upload any yourself.
- Complete your financial information.
- Submit and pay for the application ($60). Fee waivers are automatically granted to families who qualify based on Clarity’s guidelines.
- Upload any optional or other required documents, if these are requested.
+ Required Documents for the 2024-2025 school year:
Returning Families: Please note that we have switched to evaluating prior year taxes, rather than current year taxes. Check out the FAQs below for more information about the change.
- 2022 income statements. This includes W2s, unemployment statements, and Social Security income statements.
- 2022 IRS Form 1040 and relevant schedules. We ask that business owners and those in partnerships include a Schedule C, Schedule E, Form 1120, and/or K-1.
- Additional documents may be requested.
+ Optional Documents for the 2024-2025 school year:
If you feel your 2022 tax documents do not accurately reflect your current financial status, you may upload your 2023 documents for review.
- 2023 income statements. This includes W2s, unemployment statements, and Social Security income statements.
- 2023 IRS Form 1040 and relevant schedules. We ask that business owners and those in partnerships include a Schedule C, Schedule E, Form 1120, and/or K-1.
- Additional documents may be requested.
Deadlines
During our 2024 rolling admissions season, families should complete the financial aid application before or at the same time as their admission application.
+ Why does The Downtown School use Clarity?
- The application is streamlined and user friendly.
- It can take as few as 20 minutes to complete.
- It is mobile friendly and can be completed on your phone or tablet.
- Clarity connects directly with the IRS for your prior year's taxes, so you no longer need to upload your documents manually.
- The application itself is fully translated into Spanish using the drop-down in the lower left corner.
- We believe this switch will make the process of applying for financial aid easier and more accessible for our families.
+ The Downtown School did not use Clarity in prior years. Will the switch to Clarity impact my award?
Just as in prior years, if your financial circumstances have not changed, you will not see significant changes to your award.
+ Why did The Downtown School switch to using prior taxes rather than current year taxes?
- We recognize that the very difficult turnaround time of getting current year taxes completed by early February was a barrier for our families.
- By evaluating prior year taxes instead, families can more easily complete our application in time to receive an aid award.
- The Downtown School will still look at current year taxes if a family feels these more accurately represent their current financial situation.
+ What if I am divorced or separated?
Each parent, regardless of custodial arrangements, must complete a financial aid application.
+ If my child enrolls at The Downtown School without receiving financial aid, can we apply for aid in subsequent years?
You may apply, but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet your need.
+ If we receive aid in our child’s first year, will we receive aid in subsequent years?
When an aid award is granted, The Downtown School budgets to provide the same percentage of aid for the duration of your student’s time at our school. In most cases, a student's tuition payment will remain at the same level, adjusting for tuition increases. Only in a few cases do aid amounts change significantly year-to-year, and such a change would reflect a dramatic change in financial circumstance.
Admissions & Financial Aid FAQs
Additional Questions
If you need support within the Clarity application, there is in-app support available through the “Help” button in the bottom left of the screen, as well as email and phone support at support@clarityapp.com or 206-210-3752, in both English and Spanish.
Questions about The Downtown School’s policies and process can be sent to Ashleigh Harper at 206-717-2859.
Non-discrimination Policy
The Downtown School: A Lakeside School does not discriminate on any basis that is protected under federal, state or municipal law. This non-discrimination policy applies to all areas of student concern (such as admissions, educational policies, financial aid, and/or other school-administered programs) as well as to all areas of employment matters (such as hiring, compensation, evaluations, discipline, promotion, and termination). The Downtown School: A Lakeside School is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE).