Class tuition?

[Bino TWT]

I posted this in the general martial arts forum, but I'm really more curious about the answers over here.

Just trying to get an idea...

Teachers, what do you charge for tuition? Is it monthly, weekly, by the class? How many classes/hours are offered? If you are part of an organization or teaching under another instructor, are there any licensing or certification dues for teaching?

Students, what do you pay for tuition? Is it monthly, weekly, by the class? How many classes/hours are offered?

What is generally the cost of seminars an/or grading?

What is the cost for private lessons?

Is there any sort of annual or organizational fees?

 

[geezer]

For VT (WT lineage) I'm charging $100 per month for three nights a week, or $250 total for three months paid in advance. That's everything included, including association memberships and testing fees. I'd like to charge less, but I gotta cover rent and some steep association dues. Needless to say, I'm not making much. It's more of a hobby for me.

 

[Bino TWT]

Awesome, thanks Geezer.

I didn't realize you guys were under Jeff Webb. I have a buddy that works in Austin now, so he's been training with those guys out there.

Make sure you hit me up next time you're in Texas! I see he has a seminar in Houston next month.

Nice to see Robert Jacquet still at it too.

 

[Bino TWT]

I see you guys used to have a Houston school as well (Nick Pickus), but I don't think he's around anymore. I want to say last I heard, he was in Austin. I tried to reach out to him to invite them to the Houston Symposium, but he wouldn't respond.

 

[Eric_H]

I've tried a couple formats,

Per-class rate: works great if you teach out of your home/park. I did this for $20/class for a while. People like the lack of commitment, but it's impossible to predict what your earnings will be in a given month.
Quarterly: Better if you have rent/insurance to pay. You need to know what your income will be and if it covers expenses. I did this in my sword club (2x 90 minute classes/week) for ~$80-100/month.
Yearly: I'll never do this, but have been part of schools that did this. Secures the best income, but usually leaves to the most unhappy customers (people don't like to read contracts, always want to get out for free) and paid $80-150 a month for different levels of service.

I don't do grading, but have paid $50-150 per test in a past organization. Prices went up as your belt level did, which I thought was a crock, but I understand the business need of doing so.

Private/Semi-private lessons go for 50-100/hour depending on the level of the coach.

 

[PiedmontChun]

I am on essentially a WT break right now due to family and training Judo closer to home, but when I was going, I paid $135 monthly. That was for classes every weeknight, and Saturday afternoon (how ever many you wanted to attend, or could attend). No extra charge for grade testing / promotion. It might be structured differently now with different tiers for those who only do 1 or 2 days a week versus those who like to train everyday. It was in a retail space in a busy section of town..... I can't imagine rent there is cheap, or that there is much profit margin at all without constantly getting new students to replace those who leave for one reason or another. We lost several really committed students just due to job relocations and such.

Now - I pay $60 per month for Judo classes, with classes 3x per week if you can make it, and for now paying per class is still an option at $10 weeknight / $12 Saturday. There is rent to pay for that space, but its an 'extra' room in an existing business so I imagine the overhead is not terrible. Its still a break-even situation financially a lot of the time for Sensei though, I think.Grade testing is $20 but that basically covers the new belt itself and a nominal fee to the parent organization who keeps track of your rank. And for adults, there's only 5 promotions total to get to black belt and that takes a lot of years.

 

[Bino TWT]

Here's how it breaks down at my kwoon:
I charge $110 per month. I do five 2 hour classes per week and an advanced class on the weekend. I also do weekend classes for the kids for $15.

I also do $20 pay by the class, up to $120 per month. That's the most you'll ever pay per month regardless of how many classes you attend.

There's a $60 annual organizational fee, and your shirt is included in that fee.

We have quarterly seminars which are generally 5 hours long. It's $50 for the seminar, and $75 if my Si-Fu comes to town to do the seminar. There's no additional cost for grading, but grading is done at the seminars.

Private lessons are $25/hr with me, or $40/hr with my Si-Fu.

Our tuition is on the lower average for this area, and the private lessons and seminars are less than half of what most people around here are charging.

At one of our locations, the kwoon is inside of a gym, and the students are required to have a membership to the gym for insurance purposes (and to get a key card). But with the $25/month gym membership, they also get 24/7 access to the full facility.