Hong Kong School: At most international schools in Hong Kong, you can expect to pay at least HK$75,000 for primary and Hk$100,000 for secondary level education per year for each child.

UK: Boarding School: Ever wondered what the costs of sending a child to a good, UK Independent Boarding School would be?

According to a recent article in the UK Daily Telegraph , the annual costs of the top Independent Schools in the UK will soon exceed £30,000 per annum!

Cheltenham Ladies' College will charge £9,578 per term for sixth form boarders joining in September. Eton, Winchester and Wycombe Abbey will also charge over £9,000 a term.

All bar one of England's top 20 private schools have raised their fees above inflation. St Paul's Girls' School is leading the pack with a rise of more than 14 per cent to £5,204 for day student

Assuming a child starts the school at age 13 and remains there until aged 18 this equates to GBP150,000 in total, per child, and that is the cost in today's figures. If planning for the future, then inflation must also be factored in!

UK University: The average cost of a three-year degree course in the UK is now more than £25,000 (source: www.nusonline.co.uk). Since the elimination of student grants, student debt in the UK is now estimated to be a staggering £5 billion.

	GBP	US$
Fees	23,076	38.306
Living costs	24,720	41,035
Total	47,796	79,341

Source: University UK & Manchester University website – Sept 2008?

The USA: In the USA, average costs of college education are increasing at an alarming rate and of course, the top schools charge more.

Average college costs	2006-07 US$	2007-08 US$	% change p.a.
Two-year public	?	2,361	4.2%
Four-year public	?	6,185	6.6%
Four-year private	?	23,712	6.3%

Source: Collegeboard website – August 2008

US Colleges - Did you know?:

• Only 6% of all students attend colleges with tuition & fees US$30,000 or more.

• 22% of all full-time students attend public 2 year colleges.

• Degree holders earn over 60% more than those with only a high school diploma.

• Over a lifetime the earnings gap between a High School diploma and a BA degree is over US$800,000 – so the financial sacrifice made today is more than repaid in the long term.

Every child has right to a good education. A good private education is an investment for the future and has great value, and is a necessity for most young people in today’s competitive world. The ‘return’ is almost impossible to estimate. However, as much as most parents appreciate the value of further education, they sometimes neglect to plan for the cost of it.