School application fees can be kept high but should be offset

The report, “Watchdog probes school application fees” (May 13), highlighted the huge variation in kindergarten application fees, noting that the significantly high fees charged by some schools have prompted an official investigation by the Ombudsman.

School application fees in international schools are very high and non-refundable.

The schools defend the high fees as necessary due to administrative costs associated with processing applications. The counter view is that schools charge high application fees because, well, they can, and it’s an additional revenue stream.

As chief executive of an international pre-school, where our current application fee is just HK$50, I think the question is: should application fees even be charged at all?

After all, taking applications in (and therefore enrolling children) is what pays the bills for all the schools, so “administrative cost” for processing applications is really a red herring. If they were to remove the application processing as a function, how would they enrol children (and therefore earn tuition fees)? So, I’m personally not a big fan of high non-refundable application fees – it’s basically another revenue stream.

However, there is a very strong reason for schools to take high application fees as well. Schools need to be able to predict their enrolments for the following year to provide appropriate resources for the school and plan for the students.