Private school tuition and child support

Private school tuition can rival a family’s rent or mortgage, so it is one of the most common questions separated parents ask about child support: is tuition part of the support amount, and if not, who pays for it? The short answer is that the basic guideline amount generally doesn’t include private school tuition. Some states let a court add tuition on top of the basic amount and split it between the parents; in others it is a reason to deviate from the guideline amount; and in every state parents can agree to share it.

This guide explains how tuition sits outside the guidelines, what courts commonly consider, how a share is usually divided, and what to put in writing. It describes the rules in general, with examples from states whose official rules say so directly. It isn’t legal advice, and courts can deviate from the guidelines.

Why tuition usually isn’t in the basic amount

Guideline schedules are built from what typical families spend on their children. Ordinary school costs are part of that spending; New Jersey’s schedule, for example, counts school supplies among the miscellaneous items it covers. Private school tuition is different: it is large, and it isn’t part of typical child-rearing spending, so the schedules leave it out.

Several states put this in writing. Pennsylvania’s support rule, Pa.R.C.P. No. 1910.16-6, says expenses outside the scope of typical child-rearing expenses, such as private school tuition and summer camp fees, have not been factored into its basic support schedule. New Jersey’s guidelines, Appendix IX-A of the Rules of Court, say tuition for children at private, parochial or trade schools is not included in the schedules and may be treated as a supplemental expense.

The result is that the guideline amount from any state’s worksheet, including the one our calculator produces, doesn’t cover private school tuition. For example, in Pennsylvania, parents earning $90,000 and $60,000 a year with two children who live mainly with Parent B have a guideline amount of $1,387 a month. Any tuition would be decided separately. The child support calculator has no tuition field for that reason. The broader picture of what the basic amount does pay for is in what child support covers.

How states handle tuition

States that address private school take one of three broad approaches. The labels differ, and some states use more than one.

An add-on a court may approve. Some states let a court add tuition to the worksheet or allocate it on top of the basic amount. Pennsylvania’s rule allocates private school tuition when the trier of fact decides that private school is reasonable under the parties’ circumstances. New Jersey lists private elementary or secondary education among the “other expenses approved by the court”: predictable and recurring costs that average families may not have, which can be added to the basic obligation with the court’s approval. California lets a court order costs related to the educational or other special needs of the children as additional child support (Cal. Fam. Code § 4062).

Part of the children’s needs, under conditions. Delaware’s support formula counts private or parochial school as a primary expense of the children only where the parents have adequate financial resources and the general equities of the case support it (Family Court Civil Rule 503(c)).

A reason to deviate. In other states, tuition isn’t a worksheet line, but a court may use it to set an amount different from the guideline amount. Connecticut lists education expenses among the extraordinary expenses for the care and maintenance of a child that may justify a deviation, when they are found to be extraordinary and to exist on a substantial and continuing basis (Regs. Conn. State Agencies § 46b-215a-5c). New Jersey also lists tuition among the factors that may require an adjustment to a guidelines-based award. The general rules for deviations, including the written findings a court must make, are in when courts deviate from the guidelines.

Many states’ guidelines don’t mention private school by name, and in those states the question usually falls under general provisions for educational expenses, special needs or deviations. Because the rules and their wording vary so much, the state’s own guidelines and the order in the case are the place to check.

Don’t confuse these rules with college support. Connecticut’s guidelines point out that its educational support orders under § 46b-56c are for education after high school and are not orders to pay for private elementary or high school. Support for college is a separate question, covered in college expenses and child support.

What courts may consider

Where a court can allocate tuition, it is a judgment call rather than a formula. The official rules give a good sense of what courts may weigh.

Delaware’s rule is one of the most specific. After finding that the parents have adequate financial resources, the court considers the general equities of the case, including whether the parents previously agreed to pay for private school, whether the child has special needs that a public school can’t accommodate, and whether immediate family history shows the child likely would have attended private or parochial school but for the parents’ separation.

The law in New York frames the question broadly. Under Family Court Act § 413, a court may award educational expenses for private, special or enriched education when it finds, having regard for the circumstances of the case and of the parties and in the best interests of the child, that this is appropriate “as justice requires.”

Across these rules, the considerations courts commonly look at include:

• The family’s resources. Whether the parents can afford tuition on top of the basic amount and their other obligations.
• What the family did or planned before. For example, a child already enrolled, or a plan the parents made while they were together.
• The child’s needs. Learning, medical or other needs that a public school may not meet.
• The standard of living. New York’s deviation factors, for example, include the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the household not been dissolved.
• Reasonableness of the cost. The tuition, required fees and any financial aid or scholarships.

No single factor decides the outcome, and two courts can weigh the same facts differently. A parent who wants a court to allocate tuition usually needs records: enrollment documents, the school’s tuition statement, any earlier agreement and evidence of the child’s needs.

How a share is usually split

When a court does allocate tuition, many states divide it in proportion to the parents’ incomes, the same way they share childcare or uninsured medical costs.

• Pennsylvania calculates each parent’s proportionate share of additional expenses after adjusting their monthly net incomes. The court can include the shares in the support amount or have them paid directly to the school or to the other parent.
• California divides additional child support under § 4062 in proportion to the parents’ net incomes as adjusted, unless a party asks for, or the court finds, a different division (Cal. Fam. Code § 4061). The paying parent’s income is first reduced by the basic support ordered.
• Delaware adds approved tuition to the children’s primary support need, which the parents share by their share of combined income, and the parent who pays the school is credited with it.
• New Jersey adds predictable and recurring approved expenses to the basic obligation, and shares special expenses that aren’t predictable and recurring in proportion to the parents’ relative incomes.
• New York has the parent ordered to pay educational expenses do so in a manner the court decides, which can include paying the school directly.

Because the share is often based on adjusted income rather than the income shares on the main worksheet, the split for tuition can differ from the split for the basic amount. The calculator doesn’t estimate tuition shares.

Agreements and orders

Many families settle private school in a divorce or custody agreement rather than leaving it to a judge. An agreement can cover tuition even in a state whose guidelines say nothing about it, and once a court approves it and makes it part of the order, it can generally be enforced like the rest of the order. In Delaware, an earlier agreement to pay for private school is itself one of the things a court may consider.

Vague promises cause disputes. A clear agreement usually says:

• which school, or how the parents will choose one, and what happens if the child changes schools;
• which costs are shared: tuition only, or also fees, uniforms, books, transportation and trips;
• how the split is set, such as by income shares or equally, and whether financial aid or scholarships come off the top first;
• who pays the school and by when, and what records each parent shares;
• whether there is a cap, and what happens if one parent’s income changes.

Both parents can see the starting point by checking the guideline amount first. Our guide to agreeing on child support explains why a court reviews agreed amounts and how an agreement becomes an order.

If circumstances change, for example a child moves to public school or a parent’s income drops, the order doesn’t change on its own. A parent can ask for a review under the state’s modification rules. The modification calculator compares an existing order with the current guideline amount, and the guide on how to modify child support explains the process. For questions about a specific case, your state child support agency or a family law attorney can explain how the rules apply where you live.