We believe that a transformative education should be accessible to all families.
The Bay School is committed to serving a diverse community and to ensuring that every enrolled student has access to the full Bay experience. We make this happen through cost transparency and our flexible tuition program, which will provide $5.9 million in grants in 2025–2026.
2025–2026 Tuition and Fees
Independent school tuition can be a significant financial investment for families, which is why we work tirelessly to keep ours as competitive as possible among similar-caliber San Francisco high schools, ensuring that a high-quality education is within reach for families from a wide spectrum of financial circumstances.
Bay's tuition is set each year by the Board of Trustees. Our total cost for the 2025–2026 school year is $67,211, of which $4,105 is the inclusive fee. While the cost of independent school education continues to rise, we strive to balance affordability with the exceptional learning experience we provide.
Transparency in Costs
We believe in full transparency when it comes to costs. Whereas many independent schools introduce a range of additional costs throughout the year, Bay has an annual, one-time “inclusive fee” that covers virtually all educational expenses. This fee eliminates the potential for unexpected costs, which can snowball at other schools to $5,000 or more per year.
Bay’s total cost includes many items that are not included at other schools:
- A MacBook for every student
- All food service—daily lunch, snacks, toast bar, tea
- All books and materials—including a scientific calculator
- All school-related travel and field trips
- Athletic uniforms, equipment, and travel (and no team participation fees)
- Senior Project and Immersive Exhibition costs
Independent school tuition can be a significant financial investment for families, which is why we work tirelessly to keep ours as competitive as possible among similar-caliber San Francisco high schools, ensuring that a high-quality education is within reach for families from a wide spectrum of financial circumstances.
Inclusive tuition simplifies your budgeting by including all costs up-front, so families are never surprised by additional fees after enrollment.
Flexible Tuition
Bay’s flexible tuition program supports 36% of our students with grants. While every family is expected to contribute to the cost of a Bay education, no one should hesitate to apply for admission due to financial circumstances. We strive to support as many students as possible, and each application for flexible tuition is considered individually. Please reach out if you have any questions. Like other Bay Area schools, we use Clarity to process flex tuition applications.
Important Dates
- August 29: Our flexible tuition application will open on August 29.
- November 13: Bay will hold a virtual event about applying for flexible tuition. Register in Ravenna.
- January 8, 2026: Applications for flexible tuition due.
- March 26: Enrollment contracts due for flex tuition recipients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Bay’s flexible tuition committee will review each family's financial profile based on the information provided in the Clarity application. All flexible tuition decisions are confidential.
The Bay School of San Francisco is committed to socioeconomic diversity and has a robust budget for flexible tuition; however, the budget is finite, and as is the case with most independent schools, we are unable to provide every qualifying family an award of flexible tuition.
Parents/guardians who are divorced or separated must each submit their financial information.
Admission decisions are made independently from applications for flexible tuition.
Families are required to apply for flexible tuition each year. Flexible tuition awards are need-based and need must be evaluated annually. A change in your family's financial circumstances may cause your award amount to increase or decrease.
Award decisions are released along with the admissions decisions in March. If a family accepts Bay's award offer, the deadline for returning a signed contract is Thursday of the following week.