Each year, approximately 20 percent of the student body receives financial aid. The program allows academically qualified students to attend Community School regardless of their families’ financial status and helps maintain socio-economic diversity, a key aspect of CSN’s Mission.
Community School of Naples uses TADS to evaluate financial aid applications. Using their assessment and other required documents, the Financial Aid Committee determines how much assistance can be offered to a family based on their financial need.
Community School’s first financial aid consideration is given to CSN families who currently receive financial aid and have reapplied. The School then awards grants to new and returning students who are not currently receiving aid. We endeavor to meet the demonstrated financial need of as many candidates as possible.
Financial aid funds are limited. Applicants whose needs cannot be met will be placed in a wait pool. If funds become available at a later time (as funds are released from families on financial aid who leave the School or who do not qualify for continued assistance), they will be granted to applicants who qualify. The Financial Aid Committee will decide on grants as funds become available.
Financial aid grants are offered to students who have been accepted to Grades 6-12, and limited financial aid is offered to students accepted to grades K-5, whose families demonstrate financial need.
To assess the level of need, the School uses a third party assessment service from TADS. The family's total income, assets, and special circumstances are taken into consideration.
Continued need must be demonstrated each year by way of TADS (see above). It is the policy of the Financial Aid Committee to maintain individual grants consistently from year to year, always subject to current documented need and availability of financial aid funds. Students and parents must maintain a positive and constructive relationship with the School.
Grants for 2020-2021 will be made in the spring of 2020. All paperwork must be filed with TADS by March 5, 2021.
CSN encourages applicants to review the TADS Financial Aid Worksheet before filling out a financial aid application.
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| Financial Aid Application Priority Status (Current Recipients Only) | February 5, 2021 |
| Financial Aid Application Deadline | March 5, 2021 |
| 2020 1040 Uploaded to TADS | April 9, 2021 |
In addition to your online application, Community School of Naples requires financial aid applicants upload all required documents to their TADS account.
Please plan accordingly to meet this deadline as we are unable to assess your application until it is complete.
TADS will then make recommendations to the School regarding the amount of financial aid a family needs. However, it is the responsibility of Community School of Naples’ Financial Aid Committee to review the recommendations and to make the final grant. Decisions are influenced by the availability of School resources, the number of qualified applicants, and overall budgetary constraints. At times, there have been insufficient funds to meet the needs of all accepted students who qualify for financial aid.
It is the parents' responsibility to complete the financial aid application and admissions processes by the given deadlines. The primary responsibility for financing a student's independent school education rests with the family. This noted, Community School of Naples’ Financial Aid program makes every effort to help all eligible applicants.
Given limited resources, the following policies are designed to promote a fairer and consistent allocation of available financial aid. The School adheres to these policies unless special circumstances arise.
The School expects both parents to contribute to tuition. If a parent makes the decision not to work, the School may calculate an annual income for a non-working parent if the youngest child in the family is of kindergarten age.
In the case of divorce or separation, the School requires both parents to file an application for Financial Aid. Both parents must file a financial application through TADS. All current tax returns and supporting documentation are required from both parents. The School is not bound by any divorce agreement specifying a parent's responsibility for educational expenses. It is felt to be unfair for the School to subsidize a child's education if one of the parents is able, but unwilling, to contribute to his/her child's tuition.
The school strongly discourages this approach. When a family submits a “full-pay” application to the school, this communicates that the family will be capable of covering all educational costs for the upcoming year and the foreseeable future. The school budgets in reliance upon this and commits its financial aid funds to other families. Although the school maintains some emergency funds for families who request aid subsequent to admission, those funds are strictly reserved for families who encounter dramatic, unforeseeable financial reversals. If affordability was allowed because you borrowed from family or savings, then you should be able to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Financial aid is for families that have no other options.
Community School does not use financial need as a consideration in assessing a student's eligibility for admission. The admission and financial aid processes are separate and distinct. No decisions regarding financial aid are made until the student is accepted.
Community School of Naples safeguards the confidentiality of all financial aid information supplied by applicants and does not publicly identify recipients of financial aid. Similarly, families are asked to safeguard the confidentiality of all financial aid information. Families are informed that publicizing a grant in any way is inappropriate, a violation of School policy, and may jeopardize current and future grants.