Tuition On Your Montessori School Website: To Publish or Not to Publish?

One of the most popular pages on your school website is most likely the tuition page. Once a parent determines that you offer programs for their child, they will jump to the tuition page to check your rates. Unfortunately, once they have that information, they’ll probably leave your site. In other words, they won’t learn more about your school and you won’t know who they are. 

“But wait!” you say. “We’re a Montessori school! We’re nothing like that other school across town.” 

But it’s too late. They are already off looking at the next school’s tuition rates. 

How do we avoid this all-too-common scenario? 

Fortunately, there are a couple of ways we can steer prospective parents toward your school rather than lose them forever.

1. Gate Your Tuition

If you’ve been with us for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly heard us preach the benefits of “gating” your tuition. “Gating” simply means requiring the completion of a form in order to gain access to the information. Gating your tuition will be one of the most effective ways to collect contact information from your website visitors because it’s one piece of information that parents really want to know. 

It is easy to do if you have access to software like a CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) to automate the process. Create a short form to capture contact information and, once submitted, automatically email them the tuition rates as a nicely formatted PDF document. In exchange, you now have their email so you can send them the information that they probably skipped over on your website — all of the benefits that sets your school apart while encouraging them to take the next step.

You may be reluctant to do this. We hear it all the time. 

“I want to be totally transparent.” 

“How do I know I’m not losing parents because they don’t want to hand over their email?”

“It feels so… salesy!”

How are you not being transparent when you send them your tuition rates immediately? You’re not hiding or holding back anything.

If you don’t gate your tuition, how do you know you’re not losing parents who glance at your rates and leave? (Hint: you are!)

I would also venture to say that gating your tuition serves as a self-selecting filter. If a parent isn’t willing to give you their email or phone number, do you think they’re truly interested in your school?

Too salesy? I would like to challenge you to change your view about marketing.

My experience is that Montessorians think marketing is an “ask” — meaning we are making requests of people to infringe on their time, inbox, and maybe even their privacy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I challenge you to view Montessori marketing as a “give.” If we believe that Montessori is the best option for all children (and I know that we do) then we need to ensure that message reaches every single family in every community.

If someone expresses interest in your school, you aren’t bugging them by following up with an email or adding them to your remarketing list. On the contrary, you are doing them a service by giving them all the information needed to make the right decision.

Marketing is educating.

Montessori is important for children, families, and for the future of our world. It is so vitally important, in fact, that we need to do everything we can to educate our parents about what it is and why it is valuable.

Here’s where we connect the dots: Montessori marketing is nothing more than educating parents through the use of high-value content that helps them make the decision that is best for their child. Marketing is not sales, marketing is education.

If we don’t...

...your competitors will.

Our parents are going to wake up to emails from the generic, cookie-cutter, conventional education programs, extolling the virtues of whatever fly-by-night model they’ve adopted that day. They need to have the counterargument in their inbox as well.

Still not convinced? That’s okay! If you must publish your tuition rates, there is another strategy you can utilize to encourage parents to stick around and learn more about your school. 

2. Design Your Tuition Page Like A Landing Page

Consider your tuition page as a landing page that needs to stand on its own, because for many site visitors, this will be the only page they see on your website!

If a prospective parent were to visit only this page on your site, what would you like them to know about your school? 

Here are some best practices for structuring your tuition page if you decide to publish your rates.

Lead With Your Benefits

Instead of just publishing a bare table of your tuition rates, be sure to sell the value of your programs first. Include the information that they probably skipped over on the other pages of your website. What are the benefits of Montessori? What makes your school special? 

For example:

• Highlight the differences between Montessori and conventional education.
• Show a few glowing testimonials.
• Include a short video about your school. 
• Be sure to describe any tuition assistance that you might offer.

Include Relevant Content

Clearly, the parent is researching schools for their child. This is the perfect opportunity to guide them with relevant information that will help them with the decision making process.

Consider offering a free download such as “Is Montessori Right For My Child?” or “How to Choose a School.” Be sure to structure this through a form so that you capture their contact information allowing you to follow up with them later. (Remember? Marketing is Educating!)

Provide Calls-to-Action

In addition to relevant content, your tuition page should include one or two links or buttons to encourage the parent to engage further. 

Schedule a Tour is ideal if this is the next step in your admissions process. But if a parent isn’t quite ready to engage at that level yet, offer another link to encourage them to explore more on your site, such as links to your pages Meet Our Faculty or Why Montessori?

Address Affordability

If your school offers tuition assistance or financial aid, describe it before the table of actual tuition rates. This shifts the focus from “this is how much our school costs” to “this is how you can afford our school.” Offer a call-to-action to learn more about your financial aid program. 

To Publish or Not to Publish Tuition Rates

That is the question!

Gating your tuition will guarantee that you can follow up with interested parents.

If you decide to publish your rates, strategically structuring your tuition page like a landing page by selling the value of your programs and providing parents with relevant information to help them with their decision making will improve engagement and ultimately drive more families into your admissions funnel.

Need More Help With Your Marketing?

Are you interested in learning more about Montessori marketing so you can grow your enrollment this year?

Schedule a free consultation call. No strings attached!