This section explains our fees and payment options.

General. As a non-profit organization we charge only what we need to perform our services. We work to minimize our teaching and technical costs while maintaining quality, and we take advantage of financial donations and volunteer support whenever we can. Our goal is to strengthen homeschooling families by promoting initiative, diligence and excellence in academics and service, all at the lowest cost we can sustain. Also please note our Withdrawals and Refunds policies.

Family Registration Fee. Registering a family and integrating them into our programs for a new academic year requires some staff time even if that family has been with us before. Therefore we charge a registration fee for each family. For 2008-2009, this fee is $60 and is due with the initial tuition payment. It does not apply toward tuition and is non-refundable.

Tuition. For 2008-2009, our tuition rates are $230 per semester ($460 per year) for a high school course, $205 per semester ($410 per year) for a junior high course, and $150 per semester ($300 per year) for a Recreational Elective. The cost of textbooks and other materials (e.g., laboratory kits) vary from course to course and are not included in tuition. The Belhaven High Scholars Worldview Curriculum, which integrates multiple subjects, is $1380 per year, with an additional resource fee for the books and DVDs that accompany the program.

Late Payments. We prefer payment in full for the entire year upon registration. This avoids late fees and reduces processing costs. However, we are sensitive to the challenge of paying in full for multiple classes at one time, so we have a standard payment schedule in which we break required payments into two parts for each semester of the class. Please note that families are responsible for tracking their own payments and paying on time. We may assess a fee of $10 per course for each required payment postmarked later than the deadlines in our payment schedule.

Dropped Courses and Changes.We consider a family's registration request to be a well-intentioned commitment to take that class and pay all fees associated with it, and we assume that families do not request a class they believe they are likely to drop later. However, we understand that circumstances change and other opportunities arise, and we want to reasonably accommodate those changes. We provide a seven-day grace period during which a family may without charge drop a course using the "D" link next to the course's name on their family account page. After this grace period, families must notify the administrator to drop a course. We will assess a $1 per day charge for every day (including the initial seven days) an open seat was held in that course before the seat was dropped or changed (unless we initiate the change, such as with a placement change). We do not assess this fee for wait-listed seats held and dropped, or for wait-listed seats offered and refused. We do not assess this fee for switching from one section to another within the same course.

Returned Checks. We assess a $15 fee for returned checks.

Tuition Assistance. We do not want cost to keep families from participating in our classes and we price our courses as low as we can to make them accessible to as many families as possible. However, we recognize that any cost is difficult for some families to bear. Thanks to the generosity of families, staff and other donors, we have a limited scholarship fund. We use it to provide tuition assistance to single mothers of limited means and to overseas families with limited means and reduced access to good home education resources.

Electronic Payment. To keep our prices as low as possible The Potter's School does not accept electronic payments or credit card payments from families in the United States or Canada. We also do not accept electronic payments from families who have a U.S. APO address. PayPal and similar services have policies that prohibit our passing their transaction fee on to the customer. For us to accept electronic payments we would have to raise rates for all families, including those who do not use electronic payment, to cover those transaction fees. We do not want to charge everyone for a service that is used by well under half of our families, so we have generally chosen not to accept electronic payment. For families outside the United States and Canada, and without a U.S. APO address, we offer the option of electronic payment via PayPal.