Commitment to Access
Providing broad access to Grades 1–8 place-based education for families in our corner of Midcoast Maine is our guiding value.
Our commitment to access is why we have adopted a Flexible Tuition model. Flexible Tuition allows us to set tuition for each family at the level that they can afford and serve as many students as possible regardless of financial means.
FLEXIBLE TUITION
Brightfield – By The Numbers
For the 2025–26 school year, Brightfield’s Flexible Tuition range is from $5,500 to $15,800 for Grades 1–8. A fieldwork and materials fee scaled by grade level on top of the annual tuition supports our ability to provide high-quality learning experiences outside and in the community. This fee also covers the cost of materials for projects, curriculum, and supplies needed to dig deep into place-based learning. Families are responsible for providing outdoor gear for all seasons. We are here to help with gear-swaps, connections to gear discounts/rentals, and the like. Afterschool programming is offered at an extra fee. We offer a 10% discount for siblings.
TUITION CALCULATOR
What does Flexible Tuition mean for your family?
Wondering how our Flexible Tuition would affect your family specifically? Try the calculator to see the possible range of tuition for your family. Of course, there are many more factors to tuition decisions than this simple calculator can manage, but it can be a helpful starting point.
PLACE-BASED EDUCATION GRADES 1-8
Our Contribution To Accessibility
Brightfield is an independent school driven by an educational model that prizes low teacher-to-student ratios and ready access to our surrounding nature and communities. The Flexible Tuition model, which is designed to ensure broad accessibility to families in our surrounding communities, means that tuition alone will not pay for the full cost of providing an exemplary place-based education. We take two approaches to filling that annual shortfall, 1) we fundraise specifically for our Bright Futures Fund, from within and outside of our school community, to support our tuition program, and 2) we ask all of our families to contribute what they can afford in tuition expenses, not less.
Tuition FAQ
We strive to create a community that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Flexible Tuition allows us to serve a diverse community of local families by allowing people to pay a reasonable tuition for their specific financial circumstances. As an independent school, tuition dollars represent our most critical source of support for what we do, but private donations allow the tuition to be set on an individual basis, providing access to more students regardless of financial means.
You can use the calculator on this webpage to give you a rough idea of what your tuition may be for the year. If you are interested in applying to Brightfield and learning your specific tuition level, reach out to our Enrollment team for additional information and your next steps towards joining our school community.
Every family pays some tuition at Brightfield. There may be more needs than we can meet but we do our best to “top off as many cups” as we can and we are committed to considering every potential student’s circumstances individually. We encourage you to reach out to us for a conversation regardless of where you end up with the tuition calculator.
We have met the Maine State Department of Education criteria to accept school choice funding for school year 2024–25. If you are interested in Brightfield and have access to public funding for school choice, you will work with our Tuition Coordinator to work out the details.
No. Families must update their financial information every year. Family situations change every year, as does the school’s economic profile. Every year, a new calculation will be created for each family.
