Lick-Wilmerding’s budget is more than 20 million dollars a year. It costs $20 million to maintain a large campus, provide opportunities for families to receive flexible tuition, provide supplies and meals for more than 490 students and adults, and pay an extensive and well-trained group of over 100 faculty and staff a competitive wage. Running a school like Lick is no small venture.

The budget is established through the continuous work of board committees, administrators, the business office, and requests from all departments. “It is a huge effort by many different people to balance a budget like this every year,” informed Melanie Johnson, the school’s Chief Financial Officer. Many hours go into our school’s complex budget. The school is constantly growing, and each facet of the school must have its budget managed and reworked every year.

Managing and investing the school’s endowment in a responsible manner, Johnson explains, is an essential part to meeting Lick’s financial needs. Lick’s endowment is around $50 million, and is overseen by a board committee in order to keep the school running effectively for generations to come. Johnson says “The principal [of the endowment] has to be saved. Only the income from its investment along with other amounts can be spent based on an approved spending rate.” The school is able to draw on about two million dollars of income every year to support the needs of students.

It might seem as if the school’s $41,500 a year tuition would be plenty to keep the school running, but Head of School Eric Temple explains how keeping the tuition manageable and the school funded is a constant challenge. “The CPI has been going up 3%, and our tuition has gone up 3.8-4.8% every year,” he explains. The CPI is the Consumer Price Index, the measurement of the price level of basic consumer goods. This means that seemingly large increases in revenue may do little more than keep pace with rising inflation. Temple emphasizes the vital role that fundraising plays to maintain our school’s budget. “Around 7% of the budget comes from fundraising,” he explains. Temple is encouraged by the frequency of donations to the school. He says donations are a way for people to feel like they are a part of the school and give to an organization they believe in, as well as receiving a tax deduction tied to donations to non-profits. “Something that I feel is important for students to remember is that our school is a non-profit, and that means that we rely on donations in order to survive,” he said.