Tuition & Financial Aid

• Bullis uses a standardized approach to determine this need. The service that processes the applications for financial aid is called the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS).
• All financial aid at Bullis is need-based. Aid amounts are based exclusively on demonstrated financial need, and while we try to accommodate as many families as possible within the financial aid budget the Bullis Board of Trustees approves each year, the unfortunate reality is that we cannot support every family that is accepted and demonstrates financial need. In some cases we cannot meet the full amount of demonstrated need, and in other cases we may accept a student but not have enough resources to support that student at all even though the family qualifies for aid.
• As a non-profit institution with limited resources, Bullis expects that a family will have accessed all of its own sources of funding before coming to the school for financial aid. Since the School wants to give financial aid to the families that need it the most, we must assess the financial assets of each family applying for aid.

Some of the qualifying factors considered include:

1. income, both taxable and nontaxable;
2. assets (home equity, other real estate, savings, stocks, etc.);
3. number of dependents;
4. age of parent(s); and
5. number of children attending tuition-charging schools.

We also consider a number of other variables when making tuition aid awards: consumer debt, earning potential for spouse not employed outside the home, automobiles (fair market and/or lease value), recreational vehicles, second homes, vacation expenses and student travel/enrichment activities.

• After you complete the Parents' Financial Statement (PFS) application the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) conducts a financial assessment which guides the Bullis Financial Aid Committee in evaluating applicants for aid.
• They will mail the PFS results to Bullis approximately three weeks after they receive your form. It is essential that you complete the PFS as soon as possible in order for the Financial Aid Committee to receive the results in time for us to make financial aid decisions.
• Financial aid and admission decisions are made by separate committees.
• The Financial Aid Committee begins meeting in mid-February. It is important to have all paperwork, including all W-2’s and tax forms into Bullis and SSS well in advance of this time. SSS takes approximately three weeks to process the material sent to them.
• While the financial aid determinations are made on a rolling basis after March, those families with all parts of the aid application process finished by the middle of February are in the best position to receive timely notification of the committee’s decision to help decide whether or not to accept a Bullis enrollment offer by the deadline.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the application process?

► Learn more from the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

• To assess financial need, we require each family requesting financial aid to submit the following to SSS:
  • Complete an annual financial statement which is processed by SSS in New Jersey.
  • Submit your most recent IRS 1040 and W-2’s to SSS.
• SSS then provides Bullis with a financial assessment which guides our Financial Aid Committee in evaluating applicants for aid.
• It is our policy to require all divorced and separated parents, custodial and non-custodial, to submit financial aid paperwork.

Financial aid awards are granted for one year at a time. Current recipients must reapply for financial aid each year by the deadline.