Robert College most expensive with $17,750 annual fee

ISTANBUL

As administrations of private schools have started announcing their annual education fees, Istanbul’s Robert College has topped the “most expensive school” list with an annual fee of some 294,000 Turkish Liras ($17,750), the daily Milliyet has reported.

“Families have to pay nearly a fortune to send their children to private schools,” the daily wrote on June 6.

According to the report, the annual education fee for Deutsche Schule Istanbul (Alman Lisesi) is some 126,000 liras ($7,607), for Saint Joseph Istanbul is some 165,000 liras ($9,960), for Saint Michel Istanbul is some 169,000 liras ($10,200) and for St George’s Austrian High School is some 105,000 liras ($6,339).

Istanbul American Robert High School, known as Robert College, remained on the top of the list like last year. In the 2021-22 season, the school’s annual education fee was 130,000 liras ($7,848). Families of the students staying at the school’s dormitory and choosing to pay the total price in 10 installments had to pay a total of 216,000 liras ($13,040).

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said private schools could raise annual fees by a maximum of 36 percent.

“In case of a 36 percent increase, the education fee of Robert College would top 177,000 liras ($10,686),” the daily highlighted. “The fee for students using the dormitory reached some 294,000 liras.”

Besides, these numbers are “just for education.” The average school bus service fee is around 12,000 liras ($725), while the average lunch service price is nearly 20,000 liras ($1,207).

“Unfortunately, some school administrations violate rules,” Özgür Özkan, the spokesperson for the Private School Parents Platform, told the daily.

“Some schools do not register a student when parents refuse to accept school bus or lunch services,” he added.