However, setting the fees is simply step one. Arguably, the next step of communicating fee increases to your school community is more difficult than setting them.

It requires balancing transparency, empathy, and clarity, all while maintaining the trust of your parent community. With careful consideration, the use of technology and collaborative input from marketing, schools can enhance the communication process.

Here’s a guide to best practices for school leadership as they seek to effectively communicate school fee changes each year.

This is a given, but important to state – leadership teams should be planning fee updates well in advance. But most importantly, don’t leave the communication with families to the last minute.

Plan to communicate fee changes in term 3 or 4, and not in the last few weeks of the year. This will allow families sufficient time to budget accordingly for next year, and to ask pertinent questions before staff disappear for summer holidays.

At Feesable, we firmly believe that marketing has a big role to play when it comes to school fees.

Communicating fee increases isn’t just an administrative task; marketing must play a key role in shaping the message. Many schools simply send out the new fee statement to parents with a bland message about fee increases – this lack of care and intentionality is a great way to lose trust with your current families.

This is all about retention.

Marketing professionals understand how to craft communication that resonates with the parent community – structuring the messaging to be clear, empathetic, and consistent with your brand. By involving marketing, school leadership can ensure that the message reflects the school’s identity and reinforces the value that parents receive.

Marketing will also be able to assist with things like personalising the messaging. A generic letter is easy, but the schools that do it well address parents by name and include the names and year groups of their kids – this adds a great personal touch and shows that the message is relevant to them, making them feel known and valued.

Utilising Marketing in this way is your best chance to maintain trust with families around a complex issue, and boost retention.

When communicating a fee increase, be confident and upfront about the reasons. People value transparency and honesty. State the facts and provide context, keep it concise and to the point, but avoid over-justifying any increases – clear and confident messaging resonates better than a lengthy explanation that may come across as insincere.

Highlight how the increase supports the schools commitment to its mission and core values and reinforce the benefits to the students and families. Cast a vision in the future direction of the school to bring families on the journey and help parents see the bigger picture.

Too often we also see schools shying away from talking about fees, making subtle efforts to hide the fees – we even hear business managers say “…parents might find out how much it actually costs…” – this is naive and detrimental to the relationship with families.

The fact is that fees are a non-negotiable for private education, and parents know this. So why try to hide it, they will find out eventually anyway – our advice is to be confident and transparent at all points, from new enrolments through to yearly fee updates.

It is important to acknowledge the impact that fee increases can have on families. Show empathy and understanding in your communication, and offer support where possible. Provide information on scholarships, payment plans, or bursaries to alleviate concerns for families facing financial difficulties.

Often the justification for fee increases is linked to funding building projects and facility upgrades. While this is true and important, it is important to make sure this is not the sole focus. Practising empathy here looks like considering parents who are thinking – “…how does this new building help my child who is struggling with bullying and confidence in class?”. Business managers need to look beyond the building projects and think about the full educational experience the school offers when communicating fee increases.

Empathy in communication helps maintain trust and reinforces the school’s commitment to the well-being of its community.

It is important to use multiple platforms to distribute the message, for example, send an email directly to parents, update the school website, and include a note in the newsletter.

Best practice in leveraging technology looks like using an interactive fee calculator like Feesable on the website or embedded in your parent portal (SIS). Include a link to the fee calculator in your communication to allow parents generate a personalised breakdown of the new fees, ensuring they understand exactly what they are paying for next year and even forecast and plan for future years. 

You might also provide an FAQ section on your website addressing common concerns about the fee increase, helping parents access important details quickly and easily.

So we encourage you to think beyond ‘sending a letter’ and explore ways to leverage innovative technology to help parents get a clear picture of the changes, clarify any doubts and hence build trust.

We’ve already established that no one enjoys fee hikes, so it’s important to anticipate complaints or negative feedback. It’s natural for some families to express frustration, especially in the current financial climate. Again it is important to acknowledge this reality and be prepared to manage concerns empathetically and professionally.

Always provide a simple way for parents to get in touch with the school to voice their concerns. Being a sensitive matter, this would ideally be a direct line to the Business Manager, Bursar or even the Principal – this kind of openness and transparency really builds trust. It is also best to engage in a conversation rather than families deciding to leave without knowing their options.

For school leadership, effectively communicating annual school fee increases requires more than just delivering the numbers—it’s about transparency, confidence, and empathy.

Collaborating with marketing, leveraging technology, and maintaining open lines of communication can make the process much smoother. By anticipating challenges, being honest, and reinforcing the schools commitment to the vision, leadership can ensure that fee updates are communicated with clarity and care, and ultimately result in increased trust and high retention.

At Feesable, our School Fee Calculator helps schools to communicate fees in a transparent and simple experience that builds trust with parents.

Book a call to learn how Feesable can benefit your school.