Log onto FAST to access the online application (launches November 1, 2023).

The application process is self-guided; you may navigate in and out of the program without losing your work, and complete each section of the application in the order you choose. All parents / legal guardians must submit their information for the application to be considered complete. FAST is structured to allow parents / legal guardians to submit information without the other parents / legal guardians seeing the details. PKS treats all information provided confidentially.

FAST’s Parent User Guide is a helpful resource. In addition, support is available via email and a 24/7 helpline can be reached at (877) 326-3278.

The $53 application fee, per family, is payable by credit card at the end of the online process. If this fee presents a financial hardship, please email us. Waivers are available.

After completing the online application, you will be required to upload the following:

• 2022 and 2023 W-2s / 1099s for all employment held

• 2022 and 2023 federal and state tax returns and all supporting schedules

Documents are due by January 31, 2024. However, if you cannot file your 2023 tax return by this date, do still submit all other materials. Final 2023 tax returns and supporting documents are due to FAST by March 31, 2024.

If we make a conditional tuition assistance offer (without your 2023 tax returns), your final 2023 tax returns and supporting documents are due by March 31, 2024 to finalize the offer. Prior to receiving all required materials, an offer of tuition assistance is conditional.

Don’t wait to submit a TA application! Admissions decisions and tuition assistance determinations are made separately, but we send TA award notices at the same time that admissions offers go out. TA applications are due January 31, 2024, which is prior to our decision dates for admissions. If you miss the deadline, we will consider applications but additional funds may be limited or unavailable.

Along with an adjustment to tuition and middle school travel/technology fees, families receiving tuition assistance qualify at the same discount rate for our auxiliary programs: extended care, after school enrichment classes (one class per session), music lessons (10 lessons per school year), tutoring (10 lessons per school year), league and uniform fees for PKS-organized athletics, and PKS-run school break and summer camps, as well as for domestic overnight trips.

Eligibility is based on multiple variables, and each situation is unique, so it is difficult for us to answer with any specificity. PKS families have a wide range of incomes, assets, and individual circumstances (for example, supporting grandparents, multiple children enrolled in school, disability or job loss, etc.). The FAST application takes the following factors into consideration, among others: number of people in the household; family income; assets such as savings, retirement accounts, stock market investments, and real estate; monthly expenses including rent or mortgage costs; and other debt obligations.

In general, our approach assumes that the primary responsibility for financing a student’s education rests with the family. We expect that education takes priority over elective expenses such as secondary home ownership, and that all parents/legal guardians will contribute to tuition. Except when there are children younger than kindergarten age at home, the assumption is that both parents/guardians are employed; PKS will impute an annual income for a non-working parent.

We try to accommodate as many requests as possible, but because our budget is limited we cannot guarantee tuition assistance to all eligible applicants. Currently enrolled PKS students and incoming siblings have priority over new students, and families who complete their applications by deadline have a higher chance of receiving a tuition assistance award than those who submit later.

The FAST application will ask you to assess what you believe your family can afford to contribute. We recognize that tuition is not your only child-related expense, and encourage you to consider the full cost of child care and other supports (for example, extended care and coverage when school is not in session). We also recommend that you consider all your assets in determining your ability to contribute. This does not mean you must drain college savings accounts or IRAs! However, the FAST application does take savings, retirement accounts, stock market investments, and real estate holdings into consideration, among other factors.

PKS requires complete financial information from all parents / legal guardians, custodial and non-custodial. FAST is structured to allow all parents / legal guardians to submit information without the other parent seeing the details. PKS treats all information provided confidentially.

Tuition assistance decisions are made for one year at a time, and families do need to make a new request each year. In general, if a family’s financial circumstances have not changed from year to year and the application is received in time, then the level of tuition assistance should remain consistent and approximately the same percentage of the total annual tuition for that year.

If you believe new or additional factors may impact your financial situation with regard to tuition assistance, and you would like to appeal the award, please let us know. You may email your family’s circumstances and provide any additional documentation that may support your appeal to gillian@presidioknolls.org.