Ten Creative Ways to Pay for Therapeutic Boarding School
By Jane St. Clair
Parents can find themselves in a make-or-break situation with a troubled teenager. Their son runs away from home again, crashes another car, and has yet another run-in with the police. Their daughter is “dating” her drug supplier. Parents become afraid for their children’s lives as their teen’s risk-taking and lifestyle keeps becoming more extreme.
At times like this, it is hard to think clearly and find solutions. Therapeutic boarding schools and wilderness programs can provide answers, but they come at a price, with some programs running upwards of $50,000 a year.
But cost doesn’t have to be an insurmountable obstacle in getting your teen the help he needs. Parents in similar situations have come up with creative ways to finance therapeutic boarding school, knowing that their child desperately needs an intervention.
One middle-class family, the Wundrums of Chicago, spent over $100,000 over a 36-month period on a therapeutic boarding school, but later said it was worth every penny.
“Our son is alive,” Ed Wundrum said. “How do you put a price tag on that?”
Here are 10 ways the Wundrums and other families have found to finance their child’s therapeutic programs:
1. The private school or wilderness program should have a financial aid officer who can advise you about how to finance your child’s education. You should ask this person what programs, loans, discounts, or financial aid the school offers. Find out exactly what is included in the tuition and board bills, and if there are additional expenses such as buying uniforms or paying special fees for sports.
2. You may qualify for a loan through a kindergarten through 12th grade educational loan program. These loans work the same way as college loans, in that you pay what you can while your child is enrolled in the private school, and pay the rest off later. The terms of some loans let you spread out payments over 10 or 20 years. Your credit history will be a factor in securing a loan. Your school’s financial aid officer should be able to help you find such a loan.
3. Some schools offer discounts if you pay by the year, instead of by the month. The average student stays at a therapeutic boarding school for less than two years, and wilderness programs are even shorter.
4. Consider using your child’s college fund first. Think of the therapeutic program as a way to get your child back on the right path toward college. Without intervention, she won’t have the grades or motivation to get through college and use her fund.
5. When you enroll your child in these therapeutic programs, there will be upfront expenses such as processing fees and deposits. According to expert Frances Dore, some parents borrow these initial payments from credit card companies, especially ones that offer “frequent flier” miles. This way their child is immediately enrolled. They use their free mileage for transportation to and from the school.
6. Some parents borrow the necessary funds from employers or relatives, and pay them back after securing educational loans or home equity loans.
7. Your health insurance policy may cover part of the cost of a therapeutic program as a medical expense.
8. Some expenses for therapeutic schools and wilderness programs can be deducted from your income tax return as medical expenses.
9. Parents have taken out second mortgages or home equity loans and then deducted their interest payments on their income tax returns.
10. Is your child enrolled in public special education classes because of problems like attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities? Does your child have an “Individual Education Plan” at a public school? Do you suspect your child has learning problems that the public school cannot address? In certain cases, public school districts have to reimburse parents for private school tuitions. The Supreme Court ruled on June 22, 2009, that an Oregon school district had to reimburse a family for private school costs because the child in question could not achieve a free and appropriate education within the district. The child had not been enrolled in special education classes but was diagnosed later with attention deficit disorder.
When it comes to what matters most – their children – parents are unstoppable in finding ways to get the services and support they need. Don’t let cost be the determining factor. If your teen needs help, speak with the therapeutic boarding schools you’re considering and work together to find a way to get your child back on track.