Jewish Day Schools and Financial Sustainability: A JData Worksheet
In order to assess their financial strength, day schools need to keep track of their own data and
benchmark these data against those of other schools. To this end, JData offers a financial
sustainability benchmarking tool.
Use the information below to assess where your school stood in comparison to those of other
schools in North America in 2014–15. The continental averages inform you about the field and
help you understand your own school in the broader context. The definition and calculation
of each metric appears below the table.
Overall field
average
Students
Total K-12 enrollment (2014–15)
Program capacity | Students who could be served given space, staffing,
and program options
Capacity utilization
296
384
74%
Budget
Total expenses | Educational administration compensation, faculty
compensation, non-educational staff compensation, purchased services,
purchased goods, and other expenses
Cost per student
$6.5M
$21,600
Total revenues | Tuition and non-tuition
$6.4M
Total tuition collected | Net of financial aid and bad debt
$5.2M
Tuition as % of revenues
Financial aid awarded | Need-based and merit
Financial aid as % of expenses
Financial aid recipients | Unduplicated
Average financial aid package
Development
77%
$1.5M
26%
154
$9,800
% Yes
Had annual campaign FY14 (prior year)
87%
Have endowment fund
61%
Development
Annual campaign $ raised
Average
$652,820
Annual campaign as % of revenues
14%
Endowment fund value FY14 (prior year)
$4M
Total number of students (2013–14)
Endowment per student FY14 (prior year)
Rev. 12/16/15
379
$10,800
Your
school
Jewish Day Schools and Financial Sustainability: A JData Worksheet

Capacity utilization. High capacity utilization is an efficient use of a school’s key asset: its
property. When capacity utilization drops, fixed overhead costs may remain the same while
tuition income declines. | To calculate: Divide your school’s total enrollment by its total
program capacity (the number of students the school could have served that year given space
and staff).

Cost per student. Calculating expenses as cost per student enables schools to compare
themselves to schools with different size budgets and to track changes in their costs over
time. Cost per student can increase when expenses rise and/or when student enrollment
declines. | To calculate: Divide your school’s total operating expenses by its total enrollment.

Tuition as a percent of revenue. Schools whose predominant source of income is tuition
often face difficult challenges in setting tuition and in allocating funds for financial aid.
Schools with multiple sources of income (including the annual campaign and income from
endowment) have a more stable financial base. | To calculate: Divide total income received
from tuition and fees by total budgeted revenues.

Financial aid as a percent of expenses. Some schools consider financial aid a reduction of
revenue; others consider it an expense line in their budgets. In either case, understanding
financial aid as a percentage of total expenses enables schools to benchmark the cost of their
financial aid. | To calculate: Divide the total financial aid dollars awarded by total budgeted
operating expenses.

Average financial aid package. A school may give the same amount of financial aid in
multiple years but apportion it out to a greater or lesser number of students. Calculating the
average financial aid package provides a stronger measure of change than does either
variable alone. | To calculate: Divide total amount of financial aid by total number of
individual students receiving financial aid.

Annual campaign as percent of revenue. The annual campaign is an essential way for
schools to diversify their revenue streams and to get monies beyond tuition for important
current-use. | To calculate: Divide total amount raised in the school’s most recent annual
campaign by total revenues in that year.

Endowment per student. Endowment per student is an overall measure of the financial
strength of an institution. Schools high on this metric also to tend to offer more financial aid
to more students. Endowment per student may increase as the value of the endowment grows,
but it may also remain stable if student enrollment increases commensurately. | To calculate:
Divide total endowment in 2013–14 by total enrollment that year.
Data for this report were retrieved from www.jdata.com in August 2015. All items are for
2014–15 unless otherwise noted. All dollar amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars; the Canadian
currency conversion rate at the time of the report was 0.86 CAD to USD.
For information on 2015–16 financial benchmarking or to make certain your school is included,
contact JData at info@jdata.com or 781-736-3941.
Rev. 12/16/15