The Future Of Solar Energy - 2007 Words

Almost everywhere there is technology, and what does technology require? Energy. Such a simple answer, but where does it come from? That is a question many tend to overlook. There are many energy resources that are being harnessed in this modern age, all of which are truly interesting in their own special ways, but solar energy seems to stand out. The idea that mankind can concentrate the Sun’s light and turn it into energy for personal use is very interesting. Although solar energy does have its drawbacks, its importance and potential should not be ignored. It has huge promise as developments are being made everyday. There is a chance that solar energy could very well be the solution to the current energy crisis that faces mankind. As time has passed, even over the past decade, its presence has increased. There are also many advantages of going solar, and because of its availability it is being harnessed in many different regions all around the world. From its pr imitive beginnings to now it has undergone many dramatic changes, and if it continues to evolve it may just make the future a brighter place. Society is too dependent on the fossil fuels. They have been used for hundreds of years and are still the major producers of energy. They include coal, oil, and natural gas. Except for a few exceptions society has been barreling forward and burning up the fossil fuels without stepping back and considering the consequences. Because of this the world isShow MoreRelatedThe Future Of Solar Energy Essay1079 Words   |  5 Pages For many years we’ve used gas and coal as our main sources of energy. These two sources of energy have more than accommodated our needs for power since the early days of electricity. However, as the dangers to both the environment and human race begin to be revealed regarding both substances, scientist begin to turn their heads in search of new and safer processes such as solar and nuclear energy. While both sol ar and nuclear energy are more than capable pf providing the human race with electricityRead MoreThe Future Of Solar Energy1006 Words   |  5 Pagessustainable investment . With the necessities for diversified economies and youth bulges providing an eager labor force, there is certainly room for growth in the region. A study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows that countries seriously involved with renewable energies can expect significant job creation. In Germany, for example, the numbers were 150,057 for direct employment and 120,533 for indirect . Coupled with the increasing openness of the societies and the politicalRead MoreA Future Of Solar Energy3797 Words   |  16 PagesA Future in Solar Energy The amount of energy used by the United States and the entirety of the world is predicted to drastically increase over the next few years. In 2001 the worldwide average energy consumption rate was approximately 13.5 TW (terawatt), but it is predicted that by 2100 that rate could triple to about 43 TW. In order to account for this greater need it becomes necessary to take action, as current production levels cannot meet the projected increase in energy consumption. ThereRead MoreSolar Energy : The Future Of Alternative Energy Sources Essay1920 Words   |  8 PagesSolar industry has been paying lots of attention to coating technology in the past 10 years. Solar energy is considered the future of alternative energy sources. It has been recognized as one of the most widely used renewable sources of energy in the few recent years for its non-polluting characteristics which combats the Greenhouse effect on global climate created by the use of fossil fuels, figure 1.6. The generation of solar power is done by converting the solar energy into electricity by usingRead MoreEssay about Solar Power: The Future of Energy1431 Words   |  6 Pagesharmful energy sources, which affect our atmosphere? The power from the sun is what we call solar power. Solar power is the energy that comes from the sun as light and heat energy, and then it is later converted into electrical energy through solar panels (Nelson, 2008). This kind of power is completely free, right? Why should we put a lot of expense on other sources of energy, when there is a complete free and healthy power? It is evident that solar energy is a healthy source of energy, which willRead More Solar Energy Essay615 Words   |  3 PagesSolar Energy There is a bright future for solar power (no pun intended). On the average sunny day the sun shines approximately 1,000 watts of energy per square meter, enough energy to power all of our electricity needs and excess(â€Å"How†). This plethora of power and will be utilized in the future because we cant afford not to. It is predicted that in 100-500 years our fossil fuels will be depleted: this means that alternative sources of energy will be a necessity (Exxon). Read MoreFossil Fuels Are Bad For Our Environment889 Words   |  4 Pagesenvironment, and in a economy that is struggling, there is no point in pouring billions of dollars a year into an energy source that is killing our other resources. This kind of spending and reckless destruction of our environment will eventually have to stop. The question is, when it does what will we do? There are many other forms of alternative energy that are accessible to us right now. These energy sources will eventually have to be used in the place of burning fossil fuels to power our world. PeopleRead MoreRenewable Energy : Improving Solar Energy1510 Words   |  7 PagesMath November 27, 2014 Topic: Solar Energy Improving Solar energy in the United States Audience: Home owners Executive Summary: Solar energy has been in existence for a longer than any of us will imagine. Of course the sun is the oldest and most basic source of energy. Solar technology has been in existence since the 7th century B.C. Solar energy is a clean and renewable energy that does not have most of the problems fossil fuels have. There are three types of solar technology that can be utilizedRead More Solar Energy Essay981 Words   |  4 PagesSolar Energy Since the beginning of humanity, people have relied on the sun for their daily needs. Whether it is to grow the crops that they eat, dry clothes or warm their family, people have relied on the resource of the sun for sustainability. It was not until people started to get the idea of managing this energy source, that people were able to fully take advantage of the sun. In 1767, a Swiss scientist discovered a practical way to harness the energy of the sun. Horace de Saussure inventedRead MoreThe Debate On A Solar Society1462 Words   |  6 PagesPolicy Paper: The Debate on a Solar Society Now days it seems like we cannot be certain of what is good and what is bad. Especially when it comes to what is good and bad for a large group. Even with topics where it seems like the answer is a no brainer, there is always some uncertainty about how much we actually know. Do we have all of the facts, or do we just have the facts that the people controlling the situation want us to have? You can apply this mindset to practically any situation. It

On Compassion Free Essays

Annotated Bibliography â€Å"On Compassion† Ascher, Barbara. â€Å"On Compassion†. 5O Essays. We will write a custom essay sample on On Compassion or any similar topic only for you Order Now Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. 35-38. Print. Barbara Ascher’s essay offers examples of everyday life in New York City to support her thoughts about compassion. She uses two different encounters to back up her arguments and points. The first encounter involved a woman, with a child, giving money to a homeless person as he starred at the precious child. Ascher questioned as to why the woman gave to the homeless. Was it fear or compassion that motivated the gift? The second encounter involved a homeless person coming into a cafe, smelling of cigarettes and urine and the owner rushing to hand the man a coffee and a bag of food. Twice Ascher has witnessed this and one argument made was, what compelled the woman to feed the man? Was it because of pity? Care? Compassion? As winter comes the mayor kicks all the homeless of the streets and into Bellevue Hospital. Ascher thinks that what the mayor is doing shows compassion, but another side of her fears it is because of â€Å"raw humanity offending our sensibilities†(38). She uses interesting words to basically describe how people don’t like to face reality and see how life really is. People just walk past the homeless, pretend nothing is wrong and life is perfect; forgetting about the other humans in rags, starving, and living day to day on the street and in parks. For most it wasn’t a lifestyle chosen, yet people only see what is right in front of their eyes; â€Å"An awareness of rags with voices that make no sense and scream in inarticulate rage†(38). Ascher believes and states that, â€Å"Compassion is not a character trait like sunny disposition. It must be learned, and it is learned by having adversity at our windows, coming through the gates of our yards, the walls of our towns, adversity that becomes so familiar that we begin to identify and empathize with it. †(38) Ascher then, compares the homeless to the Ancient Greeks, reminding us of our common humanity. In my opinion, I believe that the point of this essay was to speak to people through writing. Ascher made very good points about her beliefs on compassion. For example, how she believes compassion is learned and not just a character trait. I for one agree with her. Being compassionate is not something that you should describe yourself as, but more so an action of doing or giving without second-guessing, or thinking of it. It’s something you pick up as a child in your home and community and it grows on you, it becomes part of your identity. In Ascher’s essay she gets her point across with plenty of arguments to back it up. She uses encounters from everyday life so readers can see and understand where she is coming from. Ascher made me change how I see and think about compassion. That’s why she is such a great writer because the execution of her work is just excellent. How to cite On Compassion, Essay examples

The Evolution of Drama and Theatre Essay Example For Students

The Evolution of Drama and Theatre Essay In the following essay, I am going to write about the development of drama and theatre from the English to the French Renaissance. There is a few important aspects that I am going to focus on: The influence that the English playwrights Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare had on Elizabethan drama, the public outdoor theatres of the English Renaissance, a short summary on Commedia DellArte, the different neo-classical ideals that developed during the Italian Renaissance, the major innovations of scenic design and scenic practices, also about Moliere as French Neo-classical comedy dramatist and the Cardinal Richelieus theatre: the Palace Cardinal. Christopher Marlowe was the first significant dramatist to emerge in the Elizabethan period. A history play that emphasizes important public issues, the chronicle play, was perfected by Marlowe. Marlowe did not write for publication, but rather for production. Christopher Marlowe was the most famous of the university wits. A dramatic structure standard was set by him and a number of interesting characters to English theatre was contributed by him. Marlowe developed another element that originated in medieval morality plays. A fight will occur between a good and bad angel for the main characters soul. Marlowe used this theme in many of his plays and so it became an acceptable theme in English drama. Basically a full-length drama would be incorporated by an abstract notion from the morality plays. Marlowe also focused on dramatic poetry, the power of a dramatic verse. The critics and people spoke off it as Marlowes mighty line, an element that became central in the later Elizabethan plays. This verse had five beats to a line, with two syllables to each beat and accent on the second beat. It was called iambic pentameter, which developed powerful elements such as strength, suppleness, lyric beauty and subtlety (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:189-191). William Shakespeare was an actor and also a member of a dramatic company and therefor he excelled in many aspects of theatre such as technical elements. He was noticed for his excellent use of the episodic plot, also for the powers of his metaphors and the use of music in his language. Another noticeable element of Shakespeares plays was the fact that his characters were well-rounded and carefully detailed which created an atmosphere of living people. Shakespeare wrote comedies, tragedies, histories and sometimes categories that could not be labelled, that made him diverse in his work. Influences from earlier drama is illustrated in his plays and how it comes together during the English renaissance. Shakespeare did not follow the structure rules of Italian neo-classicists and instead used episodic devices that emerged in the medieval period. The use of more than one locale, he also used more than one plot and he mixed tragedy with comedy. A remarkable achievement of Shakespeare is his use of language. Quotations and phrases that we use in everyday speech, originated from his plays. What makes them impressive is not only the rhythm and its imagery, but the sound of it. Scenes got alternated so that each episode illuminates or forms a counterpoint to the one before and after it (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:193-195). Enclosed inn-yards were adapted for performance space. A stage would be set up at the end opposite the entrance and while some spectators will stand in the yard, others will use rooms that overlook the yard as viewing spaces. Public theatres that were designed for performances became a primary space for adult acting companies whatever their origin. Just outside London, between the 1560s and 1642s, nine open-air public theatres were built. The reason why it was built outside London is because the city fathers of London forbade it on their moral grounds. But Queen Elizabeth and later King James offered protections that ultimately allowed the theatre to survive, because they enjoyed it. The theatres outside London were called the Theatre, the Globe, the Curtain, the Red Bull, the Swan, the Rose and the Hope. The number of spectators that the public theatre could accommodate, ranged from 1 500 to 3 000. The buildings were in different shapes, most of them were circular, some were polygonal and the Fortune theatre was in a square shape. The Rose theatre was discovered to have had thirteen or fourteen sides (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:200-201). In the public outdoor theatres the pit, galleries and boxes were used to accommodate the spectators and usually it was three tiers of seating all around the sides. The first tier was approximately 12 feet of the second one and it would be divided into boxes and it accommodated the wealthy people and therefore it was called the lords room. The second tier was about 11 feet and it had bench seating along with the third tier that was 9 feet and also had bench seating that was undivided. Then there were a yard, which were standing space for the spectators on the ground in front of the stage and on the sides. It was usually for the lower class spectators that were known as groundlings and then before or during the show food and drinks would be sold to them (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:202-203). The stage was a raised platform thrust stage that was surrounded by the audience from all three sides. The space from the back towards the stage was sloped for the groundlings to stood and watch and they had trapdoors that was used in some plays such as Hamlet. The tiring house was a stage house that was a three-story building right behind the raised platform. It was used as a space to store set pieces, properties and as a changing area for the actors to change their costumes. The entrances and exits introduced the scene changes and the faade was a basic scenic element in the Elizabethan public theatres. A Christmas Carol EssayAdvances in art like perspective paintings and drawings made it possible to develop the flat win in the seventeenth century. These painting and drawing techniques that developed in 1600 created the illusion of depth and also three dimensional space. Flat wings were individual wings placed parallel to the audience on each side of the stage in a series. For the flat wing scene shifting new methods had to be released. The two flat wing scene changing methods were called the groove system and the pole-and-chariot system. The groove system was the earliest method, above the stage floor the wings and shutters would be placed in grooves and allowed it to slide offstage easily and quickly so that the new wings and shutters can immediately be revealed. It did not last, because the scene shifters had a problem with the coordination with the wings and shutters when they were moved. The pole-and-chariot method was developed by Torelli. Scene flats would be attached to poles and these poles went below the stage floor and there they would be connected to wheel that ran on a track. This made the flats move smoothly off the stage (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:171-174). Special effects developed even further in the Italian Renaissance. They started to made use of flying machines, trapdoors and devices that would create sound effects like thunder, rain and wind. They also had to use devices that would create light, because the plays would take place at an indoor theatre and it would minimize the light. They used candles and oil lamps and if they wanted to control the intensity of the light, they would use open canisters and cover the candle with it (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:174). Molire was a French neo-classical dramatist who specialised in comedies and also had the most influence on modern theatre. He was born in 1622 as Jean Baptiste Poquelin. He was famous for a particular quote, If it be the aim of comedy to correct mans vices, then I do not see for what reason there should be a privileged class. He depicted the vices (an immoral or wicked habit of characters) and follies (a lack of good sense or understanding) truthfully and therefor the audience members were shocked, but he still succeeded in earning the respect of theatregoers and he remains one of the most popular dramatists. His dialogue consisted of witty dialogue mixed with farcical humour and human foibles. He also made use of rhyming couplets in the dialogues of his plays. Molires plots would be solved by a deus ex machine and one of his lead influences were commedia dellarte, where stock characters were resembled (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:257-258). Molire had an option of two career choices if he wanted to be wealthy. He could have fallowed his fathers footsteps and become an upholsterer in the service of the king or he could have become a lawyer. But he left school in 1643 and decided to change his name to Molire. He was imprisoned for dept in 1645 because his theatre went bankrupt. While his troupe was performing in the provinces till 1658, he was able to coach the performers with his methods. Molires plays were very successful but some of his plays like Tartuffe were banned. He did not only write one third of the troupes plays, but he was also the company manager and an actor. Molire lived an unhappy life, because he had to work harder for financial stability and his wife was also notorious for her flirtations. In 1673 Molire died when he fainted at one of the performances, because he suffered from a lung ailment (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:258-260). Cardinal Richelieu erected the Palais Cardinal and after his death it was called the Palais-Royal. The Palais Cardinal was a theatre in France that was a rectangular form and had a stage at the one end and sitting space on three sides around it where it accommodated 1 500 spectators. The area in front was called the pit and it accommodated 300 people, the raised amphitheatre behind the pit accommodated 700 sitting spaces, another 330 sitting spaces was accommodated in the galleries, 50 wealthy nobles were seated on the sides of the stage and 70 people could have stand at the very back. The theatre made use of Italianate scene-shifting machinery and was also the first proscenium-arch theatre in France. An Italian scenic wizard called Giacomo Torelli installed scene-changing equipment in France and also designed the scenery. He installed a pole-and-chariot system in the Palais-Royal which included him to build a platform stage 6 feet high, 49 feet wide, and 48 feet deep. French proscenium-arch theater buildings consisted of an amphitheatre in the back, opposite the stage that was bleacher-like seating and that made it differed from the ordinary Italian proscenium-arch theater buildings (Wilson Goldfarb 2010:261-262). As seen above, the theatre of art has been developed in every aspect from the English renaissance, through the Italian- till the French renaissance. From the greatest dramatists to the most amazing methods to change scenes on set. The renaissance period was not only a period of rebirth, but a period where spectacular theatre elements have been developed and improved. Bibliography: Wilson, E. Goldfarb, A. 2010. Living Theatre: A History, 4th ed. New York: McGraw Hill. Wilson, E. Goldfarb, A. 2010. Living Theatre: A History, pp 26-271, in University of the Free State 2014, DRAH1504 History of the Performance, Grov, M., Bloemfontein.

Porcupines Essays - Hystricognath Rodents, Mammals Of Africa

Porcupines On this page you will find links to the best porcupine sites on the internet. If you know of a porcupine site that should be listed here, e-mail us the internet address and we'll post it. Porcupine Links Porcupines WNR Magazine - Porcupines Porcupines African Crested Porcupines Porcupines Porcupines; Order: rodent. A porcupine's habitat and range: forests, deserts, and grasslands of North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Porcupines can weigh from 2 to 60 pounds depending on the species. A prickly coat of needle-sharp quills is the porcupine's best defense. Ordinarily the quills lay flat. But if an enemy approaches the porcupine will raise the quills and spread them, usually deterring the enemy. If the animal is not deterred the quills may lodge in the enemy's flesh when the porcupine brushes against the animal. New quills grow in to relace the lost ones. The porcupine cannot throw its quills. There are two groups of porcupines. They differ in habits and appearance. The porcupines of the Americas also climb trees. Some have been seen using their tails to hold on to branches. In the winter the North American porcupine eats evergreen needles and bark. When spring arrives they feed on leaves, buds, stems, and fruit. Depending on the species, the gestation period is from 2 to 7 months, bearing 1 to 4 young. The life span of captive porcupines can be as much as 20 years. The Future of the Porcupine They are nearsighted, have a deep red shine to their eyes, and four toes on each front foot and five toes on each hind foot. But, apparently, looking different does not stop porcupines from being the most popular animals at the Museum. The habitat is home to two resident porcupines, who are aptly named Cactus and Lance. From the February 1996 issue: Wisconsin's prickly rodent The misunderstood porcupine is a boon to the Northwoods. Alan D. Martin The common porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is a wonderful, necessary member of Northwoods wildlife, and I'm glad it is here in large numbers. Throw stones if you want, but I'll stand by porkies. They kill trees, you say? Well, owls, wood ducks, hooded mergansers and woodpeckers need homes too, and porcupines are part of nature's snag-making team. Porcupines hurt my dog, you say? Well, most dogs learn from that first painful mistake and don't go near porcupines again. Only one of my family's six hunting dogs hasn't gotten a snootful of quills in recent years, and only one needed a second dose to learn the lesson. The other grousers now bark, from a distance, at the quill-pig. Because of such mishaps, some porcupines are shot on sight. That's a real shame because the porky isn't only the prickliest resident of the Northwoods, it's also one of the most interesting. Porkies are the second-largest rodent in Wisconsin after the North American beaver. They can weigh 30 pounds or more in summer but their weight drops dramatically during the lean months of winter. Porcupines live in the northern two-thirds of the state in a territory that extends in a V-shape from about the Ellsworth area in Pierce County down to Wisconsin Dells and back up toward Green Bay. Porcupines, like most rodents, are vegetarians. Their winter diet consists of conifer needles, buds and the bark of pines, hemlock, maples and birch. How these critters survive on foods with a protein content of only two to three percent is truly amazing. Porcupines are sloppy eaters who drop a lot of greenery that provides a welcome snack for white-tailed deer during deep snows. If you spot a small pile of freshly-snipped branches on a winter walk, it's likely porcupines are nearby. Their winter dens are easy to find -- just follow your eyes and nose. Porcupines winter in caves and hollow logs. They travel the same paths every day. Near their dens you'll see distinctive fecal piles and smell the strong scent of concentrated urine. In spring, abundant food allows the porcupines to roam more freely, and they grow fat and healthy while dozing in the dog days of summer. Porkies consume tender shoots, succulent twigs, roots, seeds and (often to the dismay of gardeners) apples, melons, carrots, potatoes and other juicy produce. Nor are the gardener's tools immune to the porcupine's gouging incisors. The animals need sodium to rid their bodies of high levels of potassium from leaves and bark. Axe handles, hoes, canoe paddles, gloves and anything else touched by salty human hands are porcupine magnets. When defending itself, a porcupine sits

The Importance of Using a Sample of Critique Essay

The Importance of Using a Sample of Critique EssayA sample of critique essay is among the requirements for course development. The student will be able to select topics to write about and write a decent paper. This method is used by many universities and schools as an effective way to learn. And in most cases, this method is free.Of course, the best way to do this is with the student's hand-on experience. The use of a sample of critique essay helps a lot when the student can take it with him or her wherever he or she goes. This makes it a real 'hands on' learning experience.A sample of critique essay may come in the form of a written assignment, a problem, a suggestion, or any other type of assignment that is written by the instructor. It is important to have a sample of critique essay prepared for the student to work with. This also gives the student time to think about what is going to be said in the essay. To make it even more interesting, have the student write down the topic fir st, then the essay. This is a great way to practice as the student can see what the guidelines are before starting the assignment.It is also important to have a small notebook to write the outline of the assignment. The outline will help the student to get organized and set up for the essay. These outline details will be very helpful in creating the entire project.After deciding on a topic, the student should look for specific problems that are related to the topic. This is where the sample of critique essay comes in. The sample of critique essay can be used to give the student the answers to the problems he or she will face while writing the paper.Most students have assignments that they need to do in order to get credit for the class. One way of getting credit is through having a sample of critique essay prepared. This makes the assignment easy to do and not very time consuming. The problem with this is that the student will need to come up with topics that fit with the guidelines he or she has been given by the instructor.Sometimes, students will come up with ideas that will be hard to fit into the theme of the paper and this is when the sample of critique essay is useful. It can help the student to write about a different theme that is similar to the topic. This will make the task a little easier for the student and also makes the student think about a different idea.Of course, it will take the student some time to think about what the writer should write about. However, the idea behind a sample of critique essay is to show the student that he or she is doing something right. Sometimes, this could be the first step in improving one's writing skills. While the student may not be able to do a perfect essay, it is important to start and this can make a huge difference.

5 Secrets to a Successful Collaboration with a Designer

5 Secrets to a Successful Collaboration with a Designer 5 Secrets to a Successful Collaboration with a Designer Kathy Strahs is the award-winning author of The Lemonade Stand Cookbook, and the founder of Burnt Cheese Press. Her work has been featured on Oprah.com, TODAY.com, and numerous national publications. She lives with her husband and their two children in Silicon Valley. In this article, she shares  the five top reasons why her recent collaboration with a book designer went  above and beyond her expectations in getting her book just right.Even before they peruse the content itself, people first notice and compliment how The Lemonade Stand Cookbook looks. It’s bright, bold, and engaging throughout - everything I hoped it would be when I first embarked on the project. My goal for this book   - the third I’ve written, and the second I’ve published under Burnt Cheese Press - was to inspire and empower kids to start cooking, get crafty, and become entrepreneurs. I knew that the cover and interior design were the most important means of conveying these themes to readers, and it would take a designer with a special skill set to get them just right. "The cover is the most important means of conveying the theme of my book to readers." @KathyStrahs I feel extremely fortunate to have found Paula Riley through Reedsy, not only for her enviable talent but also for her initiative, commitment, work ethic, and overall personability. Paula and I were very successful in our collaboration on The Lemonade Stand Cookbook, and now that the project is complete I’ve had a chance to reflect on what I believe made it work so well. Arguably, Paula’s most significant above-and-beyond initiative was her recommendation to hire an illustrator. I’d initially considered taking step-by-step photos for each of the 44 lemonade stand recipes and crafts in the book, but time constraints simply weren’t going to allow it (I also wear the photographer hat for my books, and I was completely out of bandwidth). Hiring an illustrator would take our recipe and craft pages to the next level, but it also would add a layer of complexity for Paula’s role, in terms of art direction, coordination, and layout. Like I said before, she was committed to giving her best to this project. Meshing perfectly with Paula’s colorful, graphical style, Carol Yoshizumi’s beautiful step-by-step illustrations became a unique, core feature of The Lemonade Stand Cookbook of which I’m immensely proud. When you collaborate  with someone who goes above and beyond, you yield extraordinary results. Publishers Weekly praised our â€Å"polished design† in a recent review of The Lemonade Stand Cookbook, which was much-appreciated validation for this independently-published endeavor. Paula’s skills and expertise were a perfect match for this project from the start, and our collaborative approach, open communication, and shared commitment to excellence led us to success.The Lemonade Stand Cookbook  is available on Amazon.Please  share your thoughts, experiences, or any questions for Kathy and Paula, in the comments below!

Financial Aid Calculator for Private Schools

Financial Aid Calculator for Private Schools While many parents experience sticker shock when they see the price of tuition at private schools, it is important to remember that affording a private school education is not like purchasing a house, vehicle or another high-end purchase. Why? Simple: private schools offer financial aid to qualified families. Thats right, about 20% of private school students nationwide receive some form of financial aid to defray the cost of tuition, which averages about $20,000 at day schools (and closer to $40,000 or more in many urban areas on the East and West Coasts) and over $50,000 at many boarding schools. According to NAIS, or the National Association of Independent Schools, nearly 20% of students at private schools nationwide are awarded some financial aid, and the average grant of need-based aid was $9,232 for day schools and $17,295 for boarding schools (in 2005). At schools with large endowments, such as top boarding schools, about 35% of students receive need-based aid. At many boarding schools, families earning under about $75,000 year may actually pay little or nothing in tuition, so be sure to ask about these programs if they apply to your family. Overall, private schools give out more than $2 billion in financial aid to families.   How Schools Determine Financial Aid To determine how much financial aid each family should be granted, most private schools ask families to fill out applications and possibly submit tax forms. Applicants may also have to fill out the School and Student Service’s (SSS) Parents’ Financial Statement (PFS) to determine what parents can pay towards their children’s private school tuitions. About 2,100 K-12 schools use the Parents’ Financial Statement, but before parents fill it out, they should be sure the schools they are applying to accept this application. Parents can fill out the PFS online, and the site offers a workbook to guide applicants. Filling out the form online costs $37, while it costs $49 to fill it out on paper. A fee waiver is available. The PFS asks parents to provide information about the family’s income, the family’s assets (homes, vehicles, bank and mutual fund accounts, etc.), the debts the family owes, how much the family pays for educational expenses for all their children, and other expenses the family may have (such as dental and medical expenses, camps, lessons and tutors, and vacations). You may be asked to upload certain documents related to your finances onto the website, and these documents are stored securely. Based on the information you submit on the PFS, the SSS determines how much discretionary income you have and makes a recommendation about your â€Å"Estimated Family Contribution† to the schools to which you are applying. However, schools make their own decisions about the amount each family can pay for tuition, and they may adjust this estimate. For example, some schools may decide that they can not afford this amount and may ask the family to pay more, while other schools may adjust the cost of living for your city or town based on local factors. In addition, schools vary in how much aid they offer based on their endowment and the school’s commitment to providing financial aid to broaden their student body. In general, older, more established schools tend to have larger endowments and can offer to provide more generous financial aid packages. Where to Find a Financial Aid Calculator The truth is, there really isnt a fool-proof financial aid calculator for private school applicants. But, private schools do try to work closely with families to meet their needs. If you want a general idea of your estimated FA award, you might consider a financial aid calculator used by students applying for financial aid at college. You can also ask the admission office for statistics on average financial aid awards offered by the school, percent of family-need met and the percent of students who receive aid. Also, look at the schools endowment and ask what the full financial aid budget is, these factors can help you get an idea of how aid is allocated to families. Because each school makes its own decision about financial aid and how much your family should pay toward tuition, you may wind up with very different offers from different schools. In fact, the amount of aid you are offered can be one of the factors you consider when choosing the right private school.