Affording Helios Education

Yes. If you feel you may need financial assistance for your child to attend Helios, you are encouraged to apply.

Yes. Financial assistance is determined annually and families must submit a financial assistance application and supplemental financial documents each year. When there is little or no change in a family's financial circumstances, the school will renew the support at a similar level.

For new students, notice of financial aid decisions will accompany letters of acceptance to Helios School. For returning students, financial assistance decisions are provided in late January or early February with the re-enrollment contract. Incomplete applications may delay decisions. 

Helios maintains a philosophy that requires active participation of a student's entire family in funding this educational opportunity. These expectations are in effect regardless of any legal agreements between family members, such as alimony agreements, divorce, custody, or other similar arrangements. 

In cases of cohabitation, Helios considers the entire household income, regardless of the legal status of the family. Helios expects parents, guardians, domestic partners, and step-parents to play a critical role in financing a student's education. Financial Aid decisions are made on a "total family" basis.

The school is happy to speak with any noncustodial parent who is reluctant to provide their information to Clarity and the School. However, Helios Policy requires noncustodial parents to submit their financial information on the Clarity application. Not providing this information will result in an application status of "incomplete" and a resulting denial of financial aid. The School recognizes there may be an unusual circumstance that makes it difficult to obtain certain information; in this case, a waiver must be submitted for evaluation before a financial aid application will be reviewed further. Please contact financialaid@heliosschool.org to request a waiver. 

In many Helios families, all family members work to maintain an income sufficient to support independent school education for their children. Helios is unable to subsidize the educational cost for a family with one or more members who choose, for lifestyle reasons, not to work at levels commensurate with their education or abilities and/or who voluntarily elect not to work at all. In computing the Required Family Contribution, Clarity Financial Aid assessment (on behalf of the Financial Aid Committee), will impute the estimated income for family members who choose not to work and/or who do not work. If a parent is self-employed and claims a low income compared to the Bureau of Labor Statistics annual mean wage for that profession, a higher income level will be imputed unless a reasonable justification for the lower income can be demonstrated. Parents returning to school, starting a business venture, or changing jobs as a personal choice must realize that Helios cannot underwrite a resulting decrease in their family income. Families with extraordinary situations should explain their situation in the additional notes section of the application.

If more than one child in a family attends a tuition-charging institution, Helios requires families to apply for financial aid at each institution their children attend. When determining eligibility for aid, Helios does not consider any tuition paid for children beyond the undergraduate level (e.g., master's and doctoral degrees) as part of the family's expenses. Helios cannot subsidize tuition for other tuition-charging schools of any type, including college. Copies of awards from other institutions may be required.

The equity a family has in their primary residence and in any other real estate or personal property, will be considered in determining a family's financial need. While the School does not generally expect parents to sell their home or to take a home equity loan to support their child(ren)'s education, there may be cases where the family's equity in an asset is sufficiently significant that the equity will be considered in the calculation of financial need. The expectation is that families applying for financial aid will choose reasonable housing commensurate with their income level.

When a family submits a "full-pay" application to Helios, this communicates that the family will be capable of covering all educational costs for the upcoming year and the foreseeable future. 

That being said, we recognize that a family's financial situation can change, and tuition fees differ by division. Families are encouraged to apply for financial assistance at any time if they experience unforeseeable financial changes, even after matriculation.