Snowballing tuition hikes mean a full independent education could cost families nearly $800,000 if fees continue growing at 5 per cent each year.
The King's School in North Parramatta was the first of the high-fee schools to release its 2027 fees last week, where year 12 tuition increased by 4.8 per cent, surpassing the $50,000 mark. Fees had increased by 6.2 per cent the year before.
A parent sending a child to kindergarten at King's in 2027 who factors in fee increases of 5 per cent each subsequent year can expect to spend $790,000. Year 12 would cost $94,066 in 2039, when that child finished their schooling. Some schools, such as Scots, are already charging $52,000 for years 7 to 10, and the total cost of schooling would be $807,000 if fees rose by 5 per cent year-on-year.
Schools say fee hikes are driven by increasing teacher wages, while some cite cybersecurity and campus upgrades as also contributing to growing costs. Under new enterprise agreements, a handful of schools will pay teachers $150,000 or more next year.
University of NSW economist Richard Holden said the labour market for teachers remained tight, which was driving up costs for schools. "Fee increases of around 5 per cent doesn't sound aggressive at all, it could end up being lower, but we have seen some increases in recent times which have been higher than that," he said. "Schools have the costs of teachers, which are a really big part of it; private schools also have demands for high-quality facilities, as well as energy costs."
Holden also noted that parental anxiety about the future of the entry-level professional jobs market in reaction to artificial intelligence was fuelling demand for independent schooling.