Do you pay to go to Hogwarts?

[coolh5000]

Hi,

A question came up in the being British thread which raised the question of whether Hogwarts is a private, or fee-paying school. As that thread wasn't the most appropriate place I thought I would start a thread here because I was curious to see others' opinions. (I did a search first and couldn't find anything so apologies if this has been discussed greatly.

So, reasons I can see for it being private:

The Weasleys have made references to not being able to afford Hogwarts, however this could just be related to uniform/books/equipment for seven children for seven years each.

Hogwarts seems to have long holidays; in Muggle England, only private schools have holidays that long - the idea of a school finishing for the summer in June and not going back until September as seems to happen at Hogwarts is not typical. BUT, maybe the magical world and Muggle are different and have different systems. Someone else pointed out that Hogwarts does not have half terms which would add a few weeks to their holidays.

It is a boarding school and therefore you would suppose that to get to food and board for a year, you would be expected to pay.

Reasons against:

It never explicitly says that you have to pay - Harry is an orphan and the Dursleys never seem to have been approached about fees, though they could have been coming out of his account without us knowing, at his parents' request.

It is the only wizarding school in Britain and therefore you would think it would not be too difficult for the Ministry to fund it.

It also seems to limit who Hogwarts education is available to, however in the books the impression is given that anyone who wants to (and is magical) is able to receive education at Hogwarts. Also, it would be difficult for them to have made Hogwarts compulsory in DH if you had to pay.

Also, how would Riddle, an orphan have gone to Hogwarts - dumbledore says there is a fund to buy books but nothing about fees.

On balance I think that it would not be private, mainly for the third reason I listed in reasons against because making people pay to get a magical education would seem to go against everything Hogwarts stood for.

So, what are other people's thoughts

[Inverarity]

Harry asks about being able to pay for Hogwarts (when Vernon says there's no way he's going to pay for it) in the first book, and Hagrid tells him that his parents left him an inheritance. That's why they go to Gringotts. (Though we only actually see him withdraw money for shopping in Diagon Alley; we don't really know how or whether he also pays money for tuition.)

The impression I get is that students do have to pay for tuition and board, but that scholarships are available for those who can't afford it (like Riddle). It's probably mostly subsidized by the Ministry (and generous donations from wealthy pureblood families, which might explain why Slytherins like Lucius Malfoy have such influence there).

[CakeorDeath]

To be honest the reason I don't think that it is private is because I don't want it to be private. It's not that I think people who go private are bad or anything but I believe strongly in providing the people with a good education regardless of their ability to pay.

The most important thing in a democracy is education because it is much easier to mess people over if they aren't educated. The rich don't want the masses to be educated because it messes up the heriachy keeping them in their "place" with their wealth whilst keeping the poor in their "place". I certainly don't think Dumbledore would agree to that and I don't want to think that something a care a lot about doesn't support that belief.


/my inner socialist's ramblings

Sorry if I seems a little extreme, I am a bit weird when it comes to politics.

[Azhure]

Personally, I think that there would be costs of boarding, etc. My reason is that the prices of books and uniform, would go towards the shop that the items are purchased from. The school itself would not get any - or much - of that money.

And then we have to think literally: where does the school get all its equipment and things? There's also the food. We know that it can't be summoned out of nothing - unless the house-elves have the power to do that, which I doubt. I think that if the school was not getting any money, they would not be able to supply the students with the countless feasts and meals that they have.

However, the prices that each individual has to pay may not be overly high. As has been said, donations would probably be given to the school, as well as general assistance from the Ministry as Hogwarts is the only magical school in Britain.

So, I think that some money would have to be paid, unless there's a special circumstance (Tom Riddle, and probably families that can't afford it), but the price wouldn't be that bad. Also, there may be only one payment needed to be made at the start of the students' first year, but not each following years.

Hmm... I need to think about this I bit more, I believe.

[Merlin_Helz]

Personally, I think that there would be costs of boarding, etc

I agree with this statement. However, maybe there is an option of paying off Hogwarts school fees slowly. I mean, perhaps for those who work at the ministry, they have the option of taking it out of there pay ect.

Like alluded to in cannon, I believe certain people would not have to pay / pay very little. The reason I don't think this is the case for everyone is as talked about above, the school has to pay for teachers, caretakers, food, some equipment ect.

Maybe there would be three type of people; Those who payed full fees, those who were subsidized and those who didn't pay anything.

The fees wouldn't be too bad, especially considering donations from wealthy families and ministry assistance. The fees would probably just cover food and other small expenses.

[ms. leading]

It was always my assumption that the only money spent towards their education was that on books, robes, etc. Yes, that doesn't go towards the school but as Hogwarts is the only school in Britain, I'm pretty sure the funding would come from the Ministry, just as public education gets funding from the government.

Had there been more than one school in the area, sure, there's a likelihood that people would have to pay for board there. But as it's the only school available other than travelling to another country, I doubt the Ministry would give it no funding. The risk of students not attending and gaining no knowledge of how to control magic simply because they could not afford it would be too much responsiblity for the Ministry. They'd have to fund the school.

My two cents.

~ Cassie.

[weasleywannabe47]

In the HBP,Dumbledore tells the young Riddle that all that you pay for is robes,books,and any other things on the school list.

[inspirations]

The students buy their own books, potions ingredients, clothes and equipment. These are the main resources that we see in use. And a lot of schools that are open to the public have breakfast clubs and hot lunches. These days, a lot of people can get tickets so they don't have to pay for these. Places like this have lots of resources, etc, on top of that. So, I think Hogwarts would be backed by the ministry. Not a lot of people would be able to attend the school if it was private. I'm not being funny, but the Weasleys would never be able to afford it. And what about all these Muggle-borns? The school would have to fork out a lot of scholarships if you had to pay.

[LucillaJoanna]

In one story of mine (Colin's Hogwash), I had to ponder whether we pay for Hogwarts. I concluded we don't.

The Ministry funds the school. It's the only reason they so easily took over during Book 5.
Families donate, as well. Hogwarts is almost as much a family institution as educational.

There were the orphans. Tom Riddle, Hagrid, etc.
There were the Weasleys. These people only ever spent money on school supplies. And even then, there is that fund which came to use for Tom, and I'm sure Hagrid only stopped school because he was expelled, not because he lost money when his father died.

When Harry took money from Gringotts, it was only for supplies. If Hogwarts does charge to Gringotts accounts, then the Weasleys didn't have a prayer sending the whole brood to school. And when they won that prize in the Prophet, you saw how they spent it in Egypt instead of saving it for Hogwarts. Heh. That shows no tuition worries.

Magical education is important. It isn't compulsory, but it should be readily at hand. All those fines the Ministry charges, they are put to good use. Imagine making Muggle parents pay for something they don't understand or might doubt as necessary. School supplies-- that's something parents expect and will almost instinctively buy, but a magical education? So it's less complicated for Hogwarts to be free.

Of course, Hogwarts also runs on magic. Food can be multiplied (if you already have some: Gamp's Law). Messes are so easily cleaned up/repaired with spells (one castle, one caretaker!). Upkeep of furnishings is also easy with charms... Hogwarts also has its own poultry, and maybe even livestock and orchards and vegetable plots. We've only seen the weirder greenhouses, hehe.

Staff and faculty salary, this comes from the Ministry of Magic, again, from the way they trod over everyone during OOTP and beyond.

[Josh]

A question came up in the being British thread which raised the question of whether Hogwarts is a private, or fee-paying school. As that thread wasn't the most appropriate place I thought I would start a thread here because I was curious to see others' opinions. (I did a search first and couldn't find anything so apologies if this has been discussed greatly.

Yep, I was going to make this =]

So, reasons I can see for it being private:

The Weasleys have made references to not being able to afford Hogwarts, however this could just be related to uniform/books/equipment for seven children for seven years each.

In HBP, we are told by Dumbledore to Riddle, that there are funds for those with low or no income, I assum this would be towards books as well as school fees.

Hogwarts seems to have long holidays; in Muggle England, only private schools have holidays that long - the idea of a school finishing for the summer in June and not going back until September as seems to happen at Hogwarts is not typical. BUT, maybe the magical world and Muggle are different and have different systems. Someone else pointed out that Hogwarts does not have half terms which would add a few weeks to their holidays.

Me again! Yes, they have no half terms and I think that's why they have longer hols, but I think it's mainly because magic is very exhausting and requires, especially to people new to the subject, a great deal of effort and thus, a break

It is a boarding school and therefore you would suppose that to get to food and board for a year, you would be expected to pay.

Yes, it would be incredibly expensive...

It never explicitly says that you have to pay - Harry is an orphan and the Dursleys never seem to have been approached about fees, though they could have been coming out of his account without us knowing, at his parents' request.

In SS, Vernon says he won't pay for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic..

It is the only wizarding school in Britain and therefore you would think it would not be too difficult for the Ministry to fund it.

And the ministry get there money from.... Boarding in England is at least 12kish a term... With the added holidays they spend there etc, and very large dinners, I don't think the ministry could fund it... Also, if it was funded by the ministry, they wouldn't have had to go to such great lengths in OOTP as they would have a very strong influence...

It also seems to limit who Hogwarts education is available to, however in the books the impression is given that anyone who wants to (and is magical) is able to receive education at Hogwarts. Also, it would be difficult for them to have made Hogwarts compulsory in DH if you had to pay.

Well, we know you can get grants etc. and I think DH is really an exception..

Also, how would Riddle, an orphan have gone to Hogwarts - dumbledore says there is a fund to buy books but nothing about fees.

Dumbledore gives him money, and we assume also a scholarship.

I think the fact that the Castle is easy to maintain etc would probably mean that it would be cheaper, but I still feel that people would have to pay at least something..

~Josh