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Ethical Culture Fieldston School

Tuition and Financial Aid

Our Commitment to Financial Aid
An ECFS education is an investment in your student’s future, and we’re committed to making it accessible to as many families as possible. Whether you’re applying for the first time or renewing your aid, we’re here to guide you through the process.

At ECFS, we believe every student deserves access to the finest progressive and ethical education. This kind of education enlarges a student’s humanity, strengthens their sense of personal agency, and empowers them to put intellect, imagination, creativity, and moral will toward the common good.

Virtue is a habit, not a state of being, and we help our students find purpose both in what they love to do and in what they must do. Like our founder Felix Adler, who first named our School the Workingman’s School, we embrace inclusion and belonging. We draw students from 138 zip codes across the New York metropolitan area, and we commit over $18 million each year to financial assistance, with awards ranging from $15,000 to $70,390 reaching one in five students. We celebrate inclusivity in its many forms as central to educational excellence.

Our goal is to make an ECFS education affordable to as many families as possible, through a process that stays fair and equitable for everyone who applies.

Questions about financial aid can be directed to Victoria Daley, Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid, at vdaley@ecfs.org.

Financial Aid at a Glance

$20.9 million

IN FINANCIAL AID AWARDED TO 375 STUDENTS LAST YEAR

$55,696

 AVERAGE FINANCIAL AWARD

22%

OF THE STUDENT BODY RECEIVES FINANCIAL AID

$15,000 to $70,390

RANGE OF AWARDS

98%

OF STUDENTS RECEIVING AID RECEIVE MORE THAN 50% OF THE COST OF TUITION

Co-Curricular Support

AID MAY EXTEND TO SELECT PROGRAMS FROM AFTER-SCHOOL OFFERINGS TO FIELD TRIPS, ATHLETICS, the ARTS, AND LEARNING SUPPORT

Applying for Financial Aid

The deadline to complete your application, including all supplemental documents, is Tuesday, December 1.

  • Step 1: Visit the Clarity website and create an account if you don’t already have one. The application takes less than 30 minutes, works on mobile, and saves your progress so you can return anytime.
  • Step 2: A $60 submission fee applies. You can share your application with other schools that accept Clarity at no extra charge by selecting them from the dropdown menu.
  • Step 3: After submitting, return to your dashboard to upload a copy of your current pay statement. This step is required to complete your application.

U.S. taxpayers don’t need to upload 2023 1040s or W-2s separately. These are pulled automatically from the IRS once you indicate that you file U.S. taxes. If you have not filed a return for 2025 please contact the financial aid office directly at 718-329-7341.

Need help along the way? Clarity offers in-app support through the Help button, plus email and phone support at support@claritytuition.com or 206-210-3752, available in English and Spanish. The application itself is also available in Spanish.

Please refer to the links below for additional helpful information:

Tuition and Fees

2026–2027 tuition for all grades, Pre-K–12th Grade: $70,890.

Payment plans: An optional 10-month payment plan is available to every family.  The Finance Office offers a 2 payment plan, 4 payment plan or a 10 month payment plan. You will need to reach out to the Finance Office to set this up. 

Frequently asked questions

Financial aid is need-based tuition assistance for qualified families, helping to offset the cost of an ECFS education. Unlike a loan, financial aid is a grant that your family never has to repay.

Families with students in Pre-K through 12th Grade can apply, though Pre-K aid is limited. Financial Aid for attrition grades are limited. If you have questions regarding financial aid for attrition grades, please reach out to the Financial Aid Office.

Admission decisions come first. Financial aid grants are awarded only after a student meets our admissions qualifications, so we encourage families to apply for aid as early as possible, as funding is limited.

Financial need is the difference between our tuition and a family’s ability to pay. We use Clarity to help assess that ability. Once your application is processed, Clarity provides a general recommendation, which our financial aid office uses as a guide alongside other factors, including the number of children in tuition-charging schools, income, savings, investments, and assets.

Yes. All information about a family’s financial position is treated with the utmost confidentiality and used only to determine a fair assessment of need.

Yes, families receiving aid reapply annually. Keeping your account with our business office current is part of that process, and your award may change from year to year based on your family’s financial situation.

The Clarity process fairly and equitably measures each family’s needs. If you believe your resources fall short of the total cost of an ECFS education, we encourage you to apply. Our financial aid office is always happy to walk you through the process.

No. Financial aid grants never require repayment. This is separate from any private loans a family may take on its own, which are subject to the terms of that loan agreement.

All financial aid at ECFS is awarded based on demonstrated need.

Currently, 22 percent.

Yes. Lunch and books are included in the tuition cost.

Yes, particularly at Fieldston Upper. Tuition and standard fees don’t cover things like transportation, gym clothes, individual music lessons, required trips, athletic fees, and computers with internet access.

Yes. We ask families to draw on all available resources before requesting aid, and we impute a salary for a non-earning parent. Families with children under age 5 are exempt from this policy.

Yes. Our Board of Trustees reviews tuition every January for the coming academic year. Tuition covers about 85 percent of our operating expenses, with the rest coming from annual giving and endowment income, so tuition rises over time to help close that gap.

Families should apply for aid by the Tuesday 12/1 deadline in their admission year. If you didn’t apply for aid the year your student was admitted, an award typically isn’t available later, except in cases of significant change, such as job loss, the death of a parent, another child entering a tuition-charging school, or an illness that affects a parent’s ability to earn income.

We know that separation and divorce can be a hard season for any family, and we approach these situations with care. Our expectation is that both parents contribute to the cost of their student’s education, whether or not a legal obligation requires it. We ask each parent, along with any stepparents, to complete and submit a separate Clarity application, so we can understand the full financial picture.

When determining an award, our financial aid committee considers the assets of both natural parents and stepparents, while also weighing a stepparent’s other financial obligations. If you have questions about how this applies to your family, we’re glad to talk it through with you.
Questions about financial aid? Contact Victoria Daley, Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid, at vdaley@ecfs.org.
Applying to Lower Divisions
Applying to Fieldston Middle
Applying to Fieldston Upper
Ethical Culture Fieldston School offers a world-class progressive education in Pre-K–12th Grade at two historic campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx. The core of our educational program is the study and practice of ethics, which prepares us — and compels us — to take care of our world, ourselves, and each other.
Ethical Culture Campus  |  33 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023
Fieldston Campus  |  3901 Fieldston Road, Bronx, NY 10471
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
ECFS is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to be a welcoming community of professionals that broadly reflects the people of the metropolitan New York City area, our students, and families. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion or religious practices, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, age, ability status, military status, unemployment status or any other category protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. We are committed to hiring practices that ensure all candidates are given fair consideration in alignment with our institutional mission and goals.

Ethical Culture Fieldston School; ECFS; Fieldston; and the distinctive Starburst logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as trademarks of Ethical Culture Fieldston School.

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