Up to 100% price hikes in private schools! Parents are outraged

Ahead of the High School Entrance Exam (LGS) to be held on June 15, some private schools announced their prices for the 2025-2026 academic year. While some private schools are said to have made increases of up to 100%, annual tuition fees reaching 1.5 million lira have sparked outrage among parents.

Robert College is asking for 1 million 728 thousand in tuition for its preparatory class, while the German High School is demanding 1 million 500 thousand lira.

Again in Istanbul, Saint Joseph French High School set its fee at 1 million 658 thousand lira, while the tuition fee at Italian Galileo High School was announced as 834 thousand lira.

According to Ekol TV's report, some private high schools announced their prices for the 2025 academic year ahead of the LGS. Many schools have almost doubled their fees compared with last year.

Parents, meanwhile, reacted to some private schools’ failure to comply with the ceiling price practice introduced by the Ministry of National Education, and demanded deterrent sanctions against exorbitant prices.

PRICES ABOVE ONE MILLION LIRA

According to the latest information, Robert College raised its preparatory class fee, which was 1,102,900 TL in 2024, to 1,728,900 TL in 2025, an increase of about 57%. Other school fees were listed as follows

German High School: 1,500,000 TL

İstanbul Saint-Joseph French High School: 1,658,000 TL

Üsküdar American Academy: 1,395,100 TL

Tarsus American College: 1,081,920 TL

İzmir American College: 1,162,500 TL

Notre Dame de Sion French High School: 1,175,000 TL

Saint-Michel French High School: 1,100,000 TL

Sainte Pulchérie French High School: 1,100,000 TL

Italian Galileo Galilei High School: 834,000 TL

THE MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION'S INCREASE RATES ARE BEING EXCEEDED

According to the increase formula set by the Ministry of National Education, the rate by which private schools can raise fees for intermediate grades is calculated by taking half of the sum of the 12-month PPI and CPI and adding 5 points. For the 2025-2026 academic year, this rate had been announced as 54.8%. However, many schools are not only exceeding this limit but are pushing prices even higher through different payment plans and additional expenses.

"REPORT SCHOOLS THAT RAISE FEES ABOVE THE LEGAL INCREASE"

İbrahim Taşel, president of the Association of Private Education Institutions (TÖDER), recalled that the increase rate that can be applied for intermediate grades is legally limited to 54.8%, while also noting that there is no legal price limit for the start of stages, namely 1st grade, 5th grade and preparatory classes. Taşel stressed that schools increasing prices above this limit should be reported to the Ministry of National Education or to TÖDER. He also said that fees for ancillary services such as meals and books cannot exceed inflation rates.

In his remarks, Taşel used the following statements: "There are around 25-30 private schools in Turkey that demand very high fees. Some of these institutions employ foreign teachers and salaries are paid in foreign currency. However, it would be unfair to call all private schools ‘exorbitantly priced’ by taking only these schools as examples. About 70% of private schools demand tuition fees between 150 thousand TL and 350 thousand TL. These institutions do not make the agenda. Schools charging more than 700 thousand TL do not even account for 1% of the total".

Taşel also added that 50 thousand students left private schools last year and that nearly 1000 private schools closed during this process.