PCD's Folan Discusses Innovative Tuition Model and What He Has Learned From Coronavirus So Far

PCD's Folan Discusses Innovative Tuition Model and What He Has Learned From Coronavirus So Far

Kevin Folan, head of the Providence Country Day School, appeared on GoLocal LIVE where he spoke to the private school’s big announcement this fall, which is that it is transforming its education model, and significantly reducing tuition moving forward. 

“In the immortal words of Sir Winston Churchill, never waste a good crisis,” said Folan. “Again, I’m relatively new to PCD — I started in July of 2019, and even before that the notion of affordability and sustainability have been top of mind for a lot of school leaders, I think both K-12 for private school and even at the higher end level.”

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“So when people have asked me with this tuition reset, how can you afford this, I mean there’s a big part of me where it’s like, well how can we not afford this,” said Folan. “If we want PCD to place where families send all their kids, right — I mean, $40,000 a year, and this is pre-college, we just felt like we had to do something. I credit my board and school leadership team, we were able to figure it out.”

As Folan noted, over the past generation, household wages have increased by 15% while PCD’s tuition has increased by 400%. Effective for the 2021-2022 academic year, the high school tuition will drop from $39,250 to $25,000; middle school from $34,400 to $22,000.

“Even though this still a lot of money, we feel like this more within the line of what our families and the market can bear moving forward,” said Folan.

Coronavirus in Focus

“We’ve been open for on-campus live instruction since September 1st, and you know, I’m knocking on my big wooden desk we have not had a single case here yet,” said Folan.

Folan noted the large size of the campus, the fall weather — and the use of sixteen outdoor classrooms — have been advantageous. 

“And really what it is, is it’s just a commitment to practicing the three 'W's as much as possible — wearing a mask, watching the distance — which is by far the hardest of the three — and then washing our hand and using hand sanitizer,” he said.