Tuition & Tuition Adjustment

Tuition adjustment is available for qualifying students enrolled five full days per week in early childhood through grade 12. Tuition adjustments are not available for Early Childhood students enrolled in three-, four- or half-day programs.

Families seeking a tuition adjustment must submit:

1.  An enrollment application for each candidate; and
2. A tuition adjustment application for the household

Through the tuition adjustment application, we work to understand your family’s overall financial story, including monthly expenses, student loans, medical expenses, household dependents, elder care, and other factors. Because each family’s circumstances are different and complex, we do not use strict income thresholds when determining tuition adjustment eligibility.

Maine Coast Waldorf School is dedicated to alleviating financial barriers for families seeking a Waldorf education. We provide $1 million annually in tuition adjustments reaching 45% of enrolled families.

In Early Childhood, a healthy, hearty lunch is included, at no additional cost, for students attending our full day program. Families in Grades 1–12 may choose to enroll in our café lunch program for a fee. Tuition adjustment packages include an automatic and corresponding adjustment to lunch fees for families opting into the café lunch program. 
 

Decision notices for tuition adjustment are issued in late March. Families may appeal their package if:

1. A family is committed to enrolling their child(ren) but feels they cannot meet the tuition identified in their tuition adjustment package; or
2. New facts have come into existence since the application was submitted or mistakes of fact were identified in the original application.

The appeal process includes an in-person meeting with staff from Maine Coast Waldorf School’s Business Office. 

Our Office of Admissions warmly welcomes you to connect to discuss our tuition adjustment program, your enrollment application, or next steps for your family. Please contact us at (207) 865-3900 ext.103 or via email.

The tuition adjustment application is separate from the enrollment application. An enrollment application must be submitted for each prospective student, while only one tuition adjustment application is required per household.

To begin a tuition adjustment application, families must first create a user account with Clarity, our trusted third-party platform. Create your Clarity account or login to your existing Clarity account here. Clarity employs best-in-class security to protect the information you share while keeping the application process straightforward.

Check out our detailed guide on using Clarity.

Once you log in, you will be guided through completing a household summary, financial snapshot, and uploading any relevant documents. The application is designed to be simple enough to complete in one sitting but you can save your work and come back to your application at any time.

For children whose parents are divorced or separated, both parents are required to submit financial documentation, unless an underlying divorce decree states that one parent is solely responsible for financial and/or educational support. Once you create your Clarity account, you will have the opportunity to invite parents and/or guardians from outside your household to create their own account and fill out a separate application.

Clarity collects a $65 fee to submit your tuition adjustment application.

Tuition adjustment applications are thoughtfully reviewed by an anonymous committee of individuals who have longstanding relationships with Maine Coast Waldorf School. The review committee includes former faculty and staff members, and parents of alumni—some of whom received tuition adjustments themselves. No family members of currently enrolled students serving on the review committee.

Families receive decision notices in late March. There is an opportunity to appeal tuition adjustment decisions should a family feel the offered package does not reflect their current financial capacity.

Key dates to be aware of:

• February 6: Priority applications close for enrollment and tuition adjustment for the 2026–2027 school year.
• February 6–Mid-March: Tuition adjustment applications reviewed
• Late March: Decision notices sent to families

When reviewing applications, our committee considers your family’s complete financial situation—not just income, but also your unique circumstances and obligations. 

The tuition adjustment application will prompt families to provide information about household members, income, monthly or other core expenses, assets like real estate, 529 Plans or vehicles, and financial obligations like medical expenses, elder care or credit card debt. Clarity, our secure platform for tuition adjustment applications, will request your authorization to access your tax records via the IRS. 

Please review our tuition adjustment application guide for more details.

User Guide

Tuition adjustment applications must be submitted through Clarity. Please create a Clarity account to securely complete your tuition adjustment application. Clarity safeguards your information with best-in-class security while keeping the process simple and user-friendly.

Enrollment applications are completed separately via our Admissions Portal, hosted by Veracross. Please submit an inquiry to create your Veracross account, then visit our Admissions Portal to continue your enrollment application.

Families may choose to pay tuition in full, in two installments, or in nine installments. The preferred plan must be selected on the enrollment contract. Families seeking other accommodations should contact the Business Office. 

Yes! Funds within this program are provided by the state of Maine. For more information regarding School Choice, please visit EdChoice. Please check with your local school district’s central office about eligibility.

Maine Coast Waldorf School does not offer merit-based or other scholarships. 

Our First Nations Reconciliation Program offers a tuition-free Waldorf education, inclusive of any and all fees related to enrollment or school-sponsored offerings. Please see the First Nations Reconciliation Program section above for more information.

We do not offer a sibling discount at this time.