Financial Aid
Financial aid is awarded on the basis of family need, academic merit and availability of funds. To receive financial aid applications please email Jennifer McCarthy at jmccarthy@vsaart.com or call the Admissions Office at (434) 847-8688.
Loan Program
VSA is a member of the TERI PLEASE loans program, a state-sponsored bank-loan program for secondary school tuition. This plan allows parents to spread the tuition payments out over the course of the year.
Parents can apply to TERI by phone 1-800-255-TERI, www.teri.org, or by mail. Once the loan is pre-approved, TERI will ask for enrollment verification from our admissions office.
(Chase Manhattan, www.chasestudentloans.com, as well as many other banks, offer educational loans. Home equity loans often have lower interest rates. There is also an ACT Education Loan…found at www.alternativestudentloans.com. Don’t forget the other loan sources that already works with us…prepGate, their website is www.prepgate.com phone is 800-895-4283.)
Academic Education
The cost for tuition to E.C. Glass is not included in the Virginia School of the Arts Tuition Plans. For more information please call Lynchburg City School Administration at 434-522-3700 ext.165.
Festivals
As part of the curriculum at VSA, students regularly attend and perform at either the National High School Dance Festival or the Regional High School Dance Festival. The number of students eligible to participate is limited and governed by the High School Dance Festival which VSA is bound to abide by. The choice of eligible students to attend is made by the Dance Faculty. Parents will be notified as early as possible in regards to the festival location and dates. All fees and expenses are incurred by the school.
Miscellaneous Expenses
When considering the cost of attendance at VSA, parents should also consider other personal expenses such as but not limited to dancewear, yearbook, personal allowance, and academic school supplies.
Annual Giving
VSA, like other independent schools and colleges, relies on the Annual Giving Fund, special events, foundation grants, and gifts from individuals to make up the difference between the actual costs of running the school and income from student’s tuition.
Before we can go to foundations and others outside the school for support, we must demonstrate that our closest constituencies (parents, grandparents, alumni, faculty, Board of Directors, etc.) are already supporting VSA to the fullest extent that they can. If we show that 100% of our parents and Board members, for instance, have given to the school, outside funding organizations are more likely to look favorably on any proposal we make to them for additional assistance.
To this end, we ask that all those associated with VSA to make a gift every year to the school’s Annual Giving Fund. We set no amount on the gift; we simply ask that VSA families and friends give what they can to the Annual Giving campaign. It is important that we all show our support for VSA and it’s programs to the best of our ability.
VSA has an enviable record of such outside support. That would not be possible without the consistent generosity of those who are closest to the school and who gain the most from it.
Questions
VSA strives to keep our costs reasonable and our increases modest. We have tried to address the questions families most commonly ask about the cost of a VSA education and to avoid budgetary surprises down the road.
If you have additional questions about any item discussed here or any other aspect of the finances of a VSA education, please do not hesitate to contact Jennifer McCarthy in the Admissions Office at 434-847-8688 or jmccarthy@vsaart.com