#NYC Collegiate School hikes tuition to cover COVID tests

Faced with ballooning student and staffer COVID testing costs, at least one elite city private schools is passing the bill on to parents.

Collegiate School in Manhattan — which counts David Duchovny and John F. Kennedy Jr. as former students — sent a note to parents this week informing them of a 4 percent hike in tuition and their responsibility for testing costs.

City private schools have opted for stringent coronavirus safeguards, with most mandating vaccines and conducting regular screenings each week.

“You will see in the enrollment contract a new clause that requires families to cover the costs of COVID testing and other related mitigation steps,” Collegiate trustees wrote in a note to parents.

The board said that testing bills are piling up and they can no longer foot the bill from the school’s budget without compromising other areas of need. Collegiate announced this week that annual tuition for the 2022-2023 school year will rise to $60,400.

“As you no doubt understand, the costs associated with the pandemic are significant, and they cannot come from the operational budget indefinitely without eventually impacting educational programming,” they wrote.

A Collegiate parent said that the school’s affluent families can absorb the costs, but that steadily hiking tuition costs are beginning to raise eyebrows.

“The more restrictive the school environment, the more we are expected to pay,” a Collegiate parent told The Post. “It’s frustrating because it feels like there’s no end to it.”

Sources said other city private schools are going to charge parents for school testing or roll those expenses into already hefty tuitions.

“Please know that the tuition is the only source of revenue that Collegiate can control,” the trustees told parents. “And it is our primary tool in meeting these and other increased costs.”