An Olam sample of 80 U.S. Jewish day schools has a median published fifth-grade rate of $26,337.50 for 2026-27, ranging from $10,500 to $71,890. See the fees, family assessments, memberships and aid rules that change the bill.
Jewish day school tuition in an Olam sample of 80 U.S. schools has a median published fifth-grade rate of $26,337.50 for 2026-27, based on official schedules checked on November 8, 2026. Rates run from $10,500 in Rochester to $71,890 in Manhattan. The median describes this selected sample, not the nation, and it leaves out fees, family assessments and financial aid.
Last updated: November 8, 2026 | By Ronn Torossian | Olam.business original research
What are the main findings on Jewish day school tuition?
Olam's comparison of 80 schools found a $61,390 spread between the lowest and highest published rates, a $26,337.50 median, and many charges that sit outside the posted price. The study reached these results:
- The median published fifth-grade rate is $26,337.50. The lowest is $10,500 and the highest is $71,890.
- Forty-six of the 80 rates fall below $30,000, and 11 are $40,000 or more.
- Nine schools publish an inseparable bundle of tuition and fees. Among the other 71 schools, the median tuition line is $26,250.
- The West has the highest regional median at $34,950 across 21 schools. The Midwest has the lowest at $19,800 across 11.
- Six school fee schedules checked in detail add between 0.48% and 8.67% to tuition for one student, with a median of 4.75%.
- At least 73 of the 80 schools document an aid pathway, 13 an income-linked model and 13 a sibling discount rule.
- No complete annual cost median exists, because memberships, trips and capital payment histories are missing or unequal across schools.
In this study, a published rate is the standard fifth-grade tuition line, or inseparable tuition-and-fees bundle, that a school lists for 2026-27. An identified sum is that rate plus the listed student and family charges for one child. A complete required annual cost would include every mandatory charge, and Olam could not establish it for any school group.
How much does Jewish day school tuition cost at 80 schools?
Among 80 American Jewish day schools with a verified 2026-27 fifth-grade rate, the median published school rate is $26,337.50 and the median separate tuition line is $26,250. Both figures come from official school schedules, and neither is the amount a typical family pays.
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Schools with a verified published fifth-grade rate | 80 |
| States covered | 24 plus the District of Columbia |
| Median published school rate | $26,337.50 |
| Median tuition line, 71 schools with a separate tuition figure | $26,250 |
| Mean published school rate (Olam calculation) | about $28,725 |
| Lowest published rate | $10,500, Hillel Community Day School, Rochester |
| Highest published rate | $71,890, Rodeph Sholom School, Manhattan |
| Spread from lowest to highest | $61,390 |
The mean sits above the median because a handful of expensive schools pull the average up. Hillel Community Day School lists $10,500 for Grades 2 to 8, including lunch and snacks. Rodeph Sholom School lists $71,890 for Grades 5 to 8, includes several services, and requires congregation membership whose dues the school's schedule does not state.
Olam screened a 100-school research roster and added 30 more schools, for 130 entries. Of those, 80 produced a qualifying price, 31 had Grade 5 confirmed but no qualifying price, 15 had unresolved eligibility or identity questions, and four were excluded. The 80-school group is a purposive sample, so the figures describe these schools only.
What does the $26,337.50 median measure and leave out?
The $26,337.50 median measures the standard-program rate each school publishes for fifth grade, with every school counted once. It does not measure what any family pays after aid, and it does not add fees that schools bill separately.
Nine schools describe a tuition-and-fees or tuition-and-assessments figure that cannot be split. They are Leffell ($38,900), Bernard Zell ($46,100), Manhattan Day School ($33,950), Hebrew Academy of Long Beach ($16,500), Rodeph Sholom ($71,890), Levine Academy ($36,150), Wornick ($40,359), Tucson Hebrew Academy ($21,449) and Friedel Jewish Academy ($13,000). These bundles stay in the headline comparison with labels. They are excluded from the $26,250 tuition-line median for the other 71 schools.
Even that narrower group is not uniform. One school's tuition line can include lunch, technology and school trips, while another bills them apart. The study therefore keeps three ideas separate.
| Concept | What it covers | Reported here? |
|---|---|---|
| Published school rate | The tuition line or inseparable bundle for a standard fifth-grade student | Yes, median $26,337.50 |
| Tuition line only | The separately stated tuition at 71 schools | Yes, median $26,250 |
| Identified sum | Tuition plus listed student and family charges for one child | Only for named schools |
| Complete required annual cost | Everything a family must pay in a year | No, not established |
Olam did not calculate a complete-cost median. Required memberships, variable trip charges, fundraising arrangements and capital payment histories differ too much, and missing amounts stay unknown rather than being counted as zero.
Two schools show why every observation needs a definition. New England Jewish Academy in West Hartford lists $18,400 for Grades 2 to 5 and a separate $5,000 institutional subsidy, leaving $13,400, according to the school's linked tuition spreadsheet. Olam used the $18,400 tuition line and kept the subsidy beside it.
Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy in Stamford lists $24,750 for fifth grade, and its 2026-27 schedule says that price includes a $1,500 early-registration discount. Olam added the discount back, $24,750 + $1,500 = $26,250, to compare regular rates. That figure is an Olam calculation from the school's schedule, not a printed regular rate.
An earlier 53-school sample had a median of $30,350. The 80-school median is lower because 27 added schools changed the mix. It does not show tuition falling, since Olam collected no matched year-over-year series.
How wide is the gap between the cheapest and priciest schools?
The 80 published rates span $61,390, and most schools sit below $40,000: 23 charge under $20,000, 23 charge $20,000 to $29,999 and 23 charge $30,000 to $39,999. Only 11 schools reach $40,000, and two of those pass $50,000.
| Published school rate | Schools | Share of sample |
|---|---|---|
| Under $20,000 | 23 | 28.7% |
| $20,000 to $29,999 | 23 | 28.7% |
| $30,000 to $39,999 | 23 | 28.7% |
| $40,000 to $49,999 | 9 | 11.2% |
| $50,000 and above | 2 | 2.5% |
The top rate is about 6.8 times the bottom rate. Hillel Community Day School in Rochester sits at $10,500 and Rodeph Sholom School in Manhattan at $71,890, and two schools, Torah Academy of Boston and Politz Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov in Philadelphia, tie at $14,500.
Every school counts equally. A small elementary school and a large K to 12 campus each add one observation, and Olam did not weight by enrollment. The bands also say nothing about how many families can afford a school, how many receive aid, or how many seats are open at each price.
How do published rates differ across the sample?
The West has the highest median published rate at $34,950 across 21 schools, and the Midwest has the lowest at $19,800 across 11. Each region holds a selected mix of schools, so these medians describe the sample and not the regional market.
| Region | Schools | Median published rate | Observed range |
|---|---|---|---|
| West | 21 | $34,950 | $21,449 to $48,713 |
| Northeast | 23 | $26,275 | $10,500 to $71,890 |
| Southeast | 15 | $24,550 | $13,714 to $33,900 |
| South Central (Texas) | 3 | $23,350 | $18,000 to $36,150 |
| Mid Atlantic | 7 | $21,900 | $12,740 to $39,380 |
| Midwest | 11 | $19,800 | $13,000 to $46,100 |
Olam grouped states this way: Northeast is New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Mid Atlantic is Pennsylvania, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Southeast is Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Midwest is Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Indiana and Nebraska. West is California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Arizona.
The Northeast shows how much a regional median hides. It contains the lowest rate in the study, $10,500 in Rochester, and the two highest, $59,490 and $71,890, both in New York City. For the enrollment growth behind South Florida's demand, see Olam's report on Florida's Jewish day school boom.
What fees come on top of Jewish day school tuition?
Six school schedules that Olam checked line by line add between 0.48% and 8.67% to the tuition line for one student, with a median uplift of 4.75%. The six were chosen to show different fee types. They are examples, not a random sample, and the 4.75% cannot be applied to all 80 schools.
| School | Tuition | Added lines for one student | Identified sum | Uplift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hannah Senesh Community Day School | $45,500 | $1,600 | $47,100 | 3.52% |
| Chicago Jewish Day School | $34,365 | $165 | $34,530 | 0.48% |
| Perelman Jewish Day School | $32,300 | $1,770 | $34,070 | 5.48% |
| Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School | $37,400 | $1,505 | $38,905 | 4.02% |
| The Epstein School | $33,000 | $2,000 | $35,000 | 6.06% |
| San Diego Jewish Academy | $32,750 | $2,840 | $35,590 | 8.67% |
The identified sums are subtotals from the lines each school publishes. They are not certified all-in costs, and Olam did not add charges that schools describe only as optional.
Security lines show how much billing units differ. Seattle Hebrew Academy bills $900 per family, while New England Hebrew Academy bills $1,500 per student. A larger separate line does not show more security spending or explain why tuition rose, because Olam did not audit security budgets.
Is a family assessment charged per child or per household?
A family assessment is billed to the household, not to each enrolled child, so a comparison should not count it twice for siblings. A fixed family charge becomes a different amount per student depending on how many children a family enrolls.
Hebrew Academy of Long Beach in Woodmere, New York lists $16,500 for fifth grade under tuition and student assessments. It separately lists family assessments of $350 for security, $600 for a dinner and $2,000 for tuition scholarships. A household with one enrolled child would identify $19,450 from those lines.
Yeshiva of South Shore in Hewlett, New York lists $16,200 tuition and $875 registration, a $17,075 student total. Its family lines are a $750 banquet journal, a $1,750 capital fund and $400 for security. Adding them gives $19,975 for one household. Whether every family still owes the capital installment depends on its payment history, which the schedule does not state.
Splitting a family charge evenly across children can help a household plan its budget. It is an analyst's allocation, not necessarily the school's billing rule, and Olam does not use it in any median.
Do pledges and building funds count as tuition?
Pledges, Give or Get commitments and building funds are billed or expected apart from tuition, and each school's wording decides whether an amount is mandatory. Olam keeps them out of the tuition median and records them as separate lines.
SAR Academy in Riverdale lists $21,870 tuition for K to 5 and a separate $6,500 annual fund pledge in its student schedule, which comes to $28,370. Olam does not decide whether the pledge is compulsory from the word "pledge" alone, and the school's family-level security and building charges come on top.
Torah Academy of Boston's enrollment handbook describes a $1,500 Give or Get commitment. Fundraising earns credit against it, and the school bills the remaining balance. Hillel Torah in Skokie uses a similar model: its $1,000 Give or Get is based on the oldest child, and unmet credits become tuition due. A donation appeal with no stated bill is a different situation from a commitment that turns into a charge.
Capital payments add a second question: how long they last. A family that finished a building commitment is in a different position from a family starting one.
| School | Tuition line | Capital obligation | Payment period |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Moriah School | $19,340 (Grades 3 to 5) | $7,000 upfront or $8,500 | Five years if paid over time |
| Yavneh Academy, Paramus | $16,400 (Grades 1 to 5) | $7,500 per family | Six years |
| Yeshivat Noam | $17,000 (Grades 1 to 5) | $7,000 upfront or $1,250 a year | Six years if paid over time |
| Manhattan Day School | $33,950 bundle (Grades 5 to 8) | $10,000 per family | Five years |
A comparison that adds the same installment to every future year overstates the continuing bill. One that leaves it out understates the cost for a family that still owes it. Olam therefore records each capital charge and its period, and does not assume that a fifth-grade family is in year one or past the obligation.
Which schools require synagogue or JCC membership?
Five schools in the study require synagogue or Jewish community center membership and do not state the dues in the schedule Olam inspected, so none of them can be given an all-in price. A sixth, Gordon School in Miami, bundles membership into a registration fee.
| School | Published rate | Identified sum, one child | Membership requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sinai Akiba Academy | $39,160 | $39,990 | Sinai Temple membership, dues not stated |
| Valley Beth Shalom Day School | $35,700 | $37,310 | Families are synagogue members, separate dues may apply |
| Pressman Academy | $34,950 | $35,960 | Temple Beth Am membership, dues not stated |
| Akiva School | $19,539 | $20,764 | Gordon Jewish Community Center membership, amount not stated |
| Rodeph Sholom School | $71,890 (bundle) | Not established | Congregation Rodeph Sholom membership, dues not stated |
| Gordon School | $24,782 | $27,282 | Beth David membership included in the $2,500 registration |
Which deposits count twice in a tuition comparison?
A deposit is an advance against tuition when a school says it is credited, so adding it on top of tuition counts the same dollars twice. If the credit treatment is unclear, leave it unresolved rather than automatically adding the deposit to tuition.
| School | Enrollment payment | How the school treats it |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte Jewish Day School | $1,500 deposit | Credited toward tuition |
| Charlotte Jewish Day School | $1,000 programming and technology fee | Added to the $23,125 rate |
| Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School | $2,800 deposit ($1,000 with aid) | Fully credited to tuition |
| Denver Jewish Day School | $600 tuition deposit | Credited in full |
| Denver Jewish Day School | $125 continuing-student enrollment fee | Added to the $26,400 rate |
| Scheck Hillel Community School | Annual enrollment deposit | Goes toward tuition |
| Posnack Jewish Day School | $500 returning enrollment fee | Described as nonrefundable, not credited |
Some treatments remain unsettled. Irvine Hebrew Day School lists $1,175 in enrollment fees, and Gordon School lists a $2,500 registration. The pages Olam inspected do not say whether either recurs or is credited, so both stay unresolved. A reader comparing only the money due at signing could mistake payment timing for the annual expense.
How do payment plans change what a family owes?
Payment plans can add processing fees and tuition insurance, so what a family owes can depend on how it chooses to pay. Olam leaves these conditional charges out of the published rates and lists them separately.
| School | Published rate | Payment-plan charge | When it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Jewish Academy | $32,750 | $390 tuition protection | Deferred payment plans |
| Scheck Hillel Community School | $33,900 | $50 processor fee | Annual, per family |
| Donna Klein Jewish Academy | $32,835 | $22 for one or two payments, $56 monthly | Processor charge by plan |
| The Brandeis School of San Francisco | $48,713 | $150 administration plus 0.80% tuition insurance | Installment plans |
| Wornick Jewish Day School | $40,359 bundle | 1.25% tuition insurance | Required for multiple payments |
| Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy | $26,250 regular rate | 1.35% tuition refund insurance | Required unless paid in full in advance |
| Yavneh Day School | $26,000 | 1.7% tuition insurance on net tuition and fees | Plan applicability needs confirmation |
How much financial aid do Jewish day schools publish?
At least 73 of the 80 priced schools document an aid or affordability pathway, 13 document an income-linked program or income-based obligation model, and 13 state a sibling discount rule. These are minimum counts from the sources Olam retained. A policy that Olam did not record is unknown, not absent.
Aid depends on income, assets, family size, competing education costs and available funds. A posted income threshold does not guarantee an award. A school saying many families receive help does not give a median discount, and dividing an aid budget by total enrollment does not estimate what a typical family gets.
Sinai Akiba Academy gives one of the few figures. The school reports about $3.7 million in assistance, with 30% of K to 8 students receiving it in 2026-27, according to its tuition page. That is a school claim and not an audited number.
Olam did not collect confidential awards or family payment records, so every price in this study is before aid. A high sticker price does not prove a school is out of reach for every middle-income family, and an affordability program does not prove every eligible applicant pays the same amount.
Sibling rules differ in size and in who qualifies.
| School | Sibling discount | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Hillel Community Day School | 25% off for the second child, 50% for the third and later | Off full tuition |
| Contra Costa Jewish Day School | $1,600 for the second child, $2,300 for the third | Full-pay households |
| Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy | $500 for the second child, $1,000 for each later child | Per the 2026-27 schedule |
| Posnack Jewish Day School | $500 tuition credit for younger siblings | Two or more enrolled |
| Rambam Day School | 5% after the first child | Full-pay families |
| Yavneh Day School | 10% for the youngest child | Cannot combine with assistance or other discounts |
State scholarship programs also appear in school descriptions. Posnack lists Florida scholarship participation, Pardes Jewish Day School in Scottsdale describes Arizona scholarship pathways, and Bnai Shalom Day School in Greensboro asks aid applicants to apply for the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship. These are school descriptions, and Olam did not check any family's legal eligibility. For Florida's voucher-driven enrollment growth, see Olam's Florida day school analysis.
How do income-based tuition models work?
Income-based tuition models tie a family's price to a share of its income, within published caps and minimums, and none of them replaces the sticker price for every student. Olam reports the rule each school publishes and does not estimate any household's net price.
| School | Standard published rate | Published income-linked rule |
|---|---|---|
| Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago | $28,300 (Grades 5 to 8) | 12% of AGI for $100,000 to $350,000, 14% above $350,000, with a $7,200 minimum per student and a $1,200 family obligation |
| Westchester Day School | $26,275 (standard schedule) | $18,225 all-inclusive for AGI at or below $260,000, with higher caps for higher incomes |
| Seattle Jewish Community School | $31,185 | Income up to $350,000, the lower of $18,000 per student or 15% of AGI, with an 8% floor |
| Beit Rabban | $46,152 | AGI of $150,000 to $400,000, the higher of 15% of AGI or 62.5% of full tuition |
| Golda Och Academy | $32,610 | AGI of $150,000 to $300,000, an 18% ceiling with asset and business conditions |
| New England Jewish Academy | $18,400 | 15% of AGI below $300,000, 17.5% from $300,000 to $400,000, 20% above, fees excluded |
| Chicago Jewish Day School | $34,365 | TAP for AGI of $200,000 to $350,000, a 12% cap subject to program rules |
Seattle Jewish Community School's $31,185 comes with the Samis Foundation route. The foundation's 2026-27 affordability page describes the $18,000 per child limit or 15% of adjusted gross income, whichever is lower, with eligibility and floor rules. Those conditions should travel with the headline cap whenever it is repeated.
Timing matters too. Several school pages pair 2026-27 prices with aid applications for 2027-28, and Beit Rabban's affordability dates apply to the next admissions cycle. A deadline, grant or income rule for next year does not automatically describe this year's award.
How does philanthropy help fund Jewish day schools?
Schools describe tuition as one part of their financing, with fundraising, federation support and endowment income covering the rest, but this study did not establish a comparable audited subsidy per child. Olam can report what schools say about their funding and cannot rank them on it.
Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston says tuition supports about 72% of annual expenses, according to its tuition page. Denver Jewish Day School says tuition covers 75% of its operating budget, as stated on its affordability page, and Olam did not audit that figure.
Hillel Torah in Skokie says its tuition reflects support from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Kehillah Fund. Charlotte Jewish Day School describes annual fund and federation support for affordability.
Addlestone Hebrew Academy in Charleston describes institutional philanthropy in its 2026-27 tuition schedule. Each statement shows that tuition revenue is part of a wider funding model.
Olam did not collect audited financial statements, restricted gift schedules or endowment spending policies. The study therefore does not rank school efficiency, donor dependence or financial resilience. A tuition page with no financing percentage is not evidence that a school receives no outside support.
Readers who want to see how Jewish nonprofits report money can compare Olam's Form 990 teardown of nine Camp Ramah flagships and its Form 990 comparison of Israel-linked charities. The Jewish Leadership Academy in Miami Shores funds tuition aid through an investment vehicle, covered in Olam's analysis of the Jewish Leadership Academy scholarship fund. For another Jewish household cost with a wide price range, see Olam's report on sheitel prices.
Why does fifth grade sit in different school divisions?
Fifth grade belongs to an elementary division at some schools and a middle school division at others, so a price labeled "Lower School" does not count unless the school's materials show it covers fifth grade. Olam chose fifth grade because it avoids setting a high school price against an elementary one, but schools do not agree on where elementary school ends.
| School | Where fifth grade sits | Published rate | Treatment in the study |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School | Grades 5 to 7 middle school band | $46,100 bundle | Counted |
| Beit Rabban | Grades 5 to 8 middle school division | $46,152 | Counted |
| Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh | Inside a Grades 1 to 6 band | $15,640 | Counted |
| Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School | Division mapping not settled | Division prices public | Excluded from the price calculation |
| The Ramaz School | Middle school | Schedule could not be read | Excluded from the price calculation |
The study uses a missing observation instead of guessing which division applies.
How did Olam handle duplicates, closures and unclear names?
Olam corrected or excluded several inherited entries before counting any price, and the final register reconciles as 80 priced schools, 31 without a qualifying price, 15 unresolved and four excluded, for 130 entries.
| Status | Entries | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Verified 2026-27 fifth-grade price | 80 | Enters the statistics |
| Fifth grade confirmed, no qualifying price | 31 | Price missing, unreadable or not dated 2026-27 |
| Eligibility or identity unresolved | 15 | No price asserted |
| Excluded | 4 | Two duplicates, one closed school, one outside scope |
The four exclusions were Hebrew Academy of Miami, a duplicate of Greater Miami Hebrew Academy, and a Jacksonville umbrella entry that overlaps Martin J. Gottlieb Day School.
The other two were MetroWest Jewish Day School, whose official site says it is permanently closed, and The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, New Jersey, which Olam could not establish as a Jewish day school.
Similar names needed care. A Milwaukee school called Yeshiva Elementary School is not the Florida school with a similar name. Politz Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov in Philadelphia is not Politz Day School in Cherry Hill. Yavneh Academy in Paramus, New Jersey is not Yavneh Day School in Los Gatos, California. Olam kept each original candidate number and recorded every name normalization.
A failed page retrieval is not the same as nondisclosure. A school may post a schedule as an image or PDF that research tools cannot read, and an old rate can stay indexed after a page changes. Krieger Schechter and Kohelet Yeshiva had indexed prices Olam could not reopen. Torah Day School of Atlanta, Community Day School in Pittsburgh and Hillel Academy of Denver showed prices without an explicit 2026-27 label. All five stay outside the statistics, and Olam did not substitute a rate from 2024-25, 2025-26 or 2027-28.
Only Barkai Yeshivah and Yeshiva Har Torah explicitly tell families to ask for the current schedule. The other schools without prices are not classed as inquiry-only.
What are the published rates at all 80 schools?
Every observation behind the $26,337.50 median appears below, sorted from lowest to highest, with a link to the school's own schedule. T marks a separate tuition line and B marks an inseparable bundle of tuition and fees.
Two rates are adjusted, and both adjustments are disclosed. Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy's $26,250 adds a $1,500 early-registration discount back to its printed $24,750. New England Jewish Academy's $18,400 is its tuition line before a separate $5,000 institutional subsidy. Grade bands are as each school publishes them, and T and B describe how a line is structured, not identical service packages.
How did Olam calculate these numbers?
Olam calculated every figure from a 130-entry register in which each qualifying price is an official 2026-27 school schedule that applies to fifth grade. The steps were:
- Start with a 100-school research roster and add 30 distinct schools. Rodeph Sholom was already candidate 26, so it was not counted again.
- Search each school's name with tuition and the 2026-27 year, then open official admissions, fee and policy pages and any linked schedules.
- Accept a price only when the school's own schedule is accessible, tied to 2026-27 and applies to fifth grade, directly or through a band that includes it. Valley Beth Shalom and Seattle Jewish Community School use school-wide rates matched to their elementary scope, and domestic standard-program rates were used where international or specialist tracks differ.
- Record whether each rate is a separate tuition line or an inseparable bundle. Nine are bundles.
- Sort the 80 published rates and take the median, which is the average of the 40th and 41st values: ($26,275 + $26,400) / 2 = $26,337.50. Remove the nine bundles and take the 36th of the remaining 71 values, which is $26,250.
- Keep student charges and family charges separate. Identified sums assume one continuing standard-program student in a one-child household unless the text says otherwise, credited deposits are not added twice, and optional programs, specialist support, new-applicant costs and next-year grants are left out.
- Weight every school equally and never fill a missing price with an estimate.
Olam checked the count, median, extremes, bundle exclusions and band totals a second time from the input table, and the figures matched.
The study supports no national estimate, quality ranking, comparison of denominations, explanation of why prices differ, ranking of security spending or tuition inflation figure. Finding a public price was part of how schools entered the sample, so the 80 of 130 yield is a research outcome and not a transparency rate. Schools can change their pages after November 8, 2026.
No school was contacted for this study. The sources are public school documents, and the aid percentages quoted are school claims and not audits.
How to cite this study
Olam.business, "How Much Does Jewish Day School Tuition Cost? 80 Schools Compared," by Ronn Torossian, last updated November 8, 2026, https://olam.business/jewish-day-school-tuition. Cite the sample size (80 schools), the 2026-27 school year and the phrase "published fifth-grade rate" with any figure from this study.
What should families ask a school to put in writing?
Families should ask each school for a written, household-specific schedule that separates tuition from every other charge, because a posted rate is not a bill. The schedule should cover nine items:
- The fifth-grade tuition and the services it includes, such as lunch, technology, books and trips.
- Annual student charges, listed per child.
- Family assessments, listed per household, with the number of children each one assumes.
- Capital installments still owed and the year the obligation ends.
- Any required synagogue or community center membership, with its dues.
- Fundraising commitments, including whether a Give or Get can be met by raising money and what the school bills if it is not.
- Deposits marked as credited toward tuition or as an added fee, and new-applicant charges separated from continuing-student charges.
- Payment-plan fees and tuition insurance for each payment option.
- The assistance policy for the specific year, with sibling reductions, minimum contributions and any limit on combining programs.
A school that answers all nine items in writing gives a family the one number the posted rate cannot, and that number is the one to compare across schools.
Frequently asked questions about Jewish day school tuition
These answers use Olam's 80-school sample and cover only 2026-27 fifth-grade rates published by the schools.
What is the average cost of Jewish day school?
The median published fifth-grade rate is $26,337.50 across 80 American schools, and the mean is about $28,725. Both figures describe this selected group and not the nation, and both come before aid and separate fees.
How much does the cheapest Jewish day school cost?
Hillel Community Day School in Rochester, New York lists the lowest rate in the study, $10,500 for Grades 2 to 8, including lunch and snacks. It is the lowest among the 80 schools Olam verified and not necessarily the lowest in the country.
Which Jewish day school is the most expensive?
Rodeph Sholom School in Manhattan lists the highest rate in the study, $71,890 for Grades 5 to 8, and requires congregation membership with dues the schedule does not state. The Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York lists the next highest, $59,490 for Grades 3 to 5.
Does Jewish day school tuition include fees?
Sometimes. Nine of the 80 schools publish an inseparable bundle of tuition and fees, while 71 list a separate tuition line. Six schedules checked in detail add between 0.48% and 8.67% to tuition for one student.
Is Jewish day school cheaper in some parts of the country?
In this sample the Midwest has the lowest median at $19,800 across 11 schools, and the West has the highest at $34,950 across 21. These are medians of selected schools and do not describe local markets.
How many Jewish day schools offer financial aid?
At least 73 of the 80 priced schools document an aid or affordability pathway, and 13 document an income-linked model. These are minimum counts, and an unrecorded policy does not mean a school has none.
Do all Jewish day schools give sibling discounts?
Olam documented 13 sibling discount policies among the 80 priced schools, and the study does not establish whether the remaining schools offer discounts. Hillel Community Day School, for example, takes 25% off the second child's full tuition and 50% off the third and later children.
Do all Jewish day schools publish their tuition?
The study does not establish that. Another 31 schools had Grade 5 confirmed but no qualifying 2026-27 price, and a missing price can mean an unreadable page, an old schedule or a request to contact admissions, so Olam does not treat it as a disclosure rate.
Is the median what a typical family pays?
No. The median is the published school rate before aid, and it leaves out separate fees, family assessments, memberships, capital payments and payment-plan charges. Olam did not collect what families actually pay.
About the author
Ronn Torossian is the publisher of The Olam, a longtime journalist and the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release.
This study is Olam.business original research. Research cut off: November 8, 2026.
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