WW schooling and British schooling

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 44003

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Melody" <Malady579 at h...> wrote:
> I was wondering something and I was hoping ya'll could help me.
> 
> Do Hogwarts students pay tuition?
> And if not, then how can Hogwarts afford to stay running?
> Do you think the Wizard world is taxed?
> Do these taxes pay for more than just the school system?
> Is Hogwarts then a state school?
> 
> I am not sure if this is just a cultural misunderstanding (between 
> British and American ideas) or questions that are viable.  
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Melody

bboy_mn commnets:

I think this is still one of those unresolved questions. It has come
up before, and I think after discussion, the conclusion always ends up -
[shrugs shoulders] who knows.

But I'm willing to throw out some guesses-

Founder Grants/Trust/Endowments-
Some schools and other charitable/non-profit organizations have a
trust or a lump sum grant of cash that they can't (that's can NOT)
spend, but they can invest it and use whatever money or interest they
make on investing the bulk amount. Perhap in the beginning the four
founders of Hogwards provided an endowment, and the school has been
living off this endowment for a thousand years. 

With an endowment like this one of two things will happen, either they
will spend it down to nothing, or it will grow. An investment grown
over 1,000 years has the potential to grow into a very substantial
amount of money. An investment at a return of a mere 1% will double in
about 70 years. So over a 1,000 years; best guess $1,000 @ 1% for
1,000 years = $22 Million; @ 2% = $380,000Million. I've always guessed
that the Gringotts goblins were pretty shrewed business men, so I'm
sure they could get a substantial return on any investment entrusted
to them.

Alumni Death Grants/Trusts/Endowments-
Illustration- Harry really has no family (yet), and he has a
substantial amount of money that could grow even larger over his
lifetime. When he dies, having no family, he may choose to leave all
his money to Hogwarts. So, in general, people can leave money in their
wills.

Alumni Living Grants/Trusts/Endowments-
People just donate money to the school either as trusts or as
operational grants. I've often wondered if the 12 members of the Board
of Governors of Hogwarts are the 12 living people who have donated the
most money to the school. Want to be on the board? Just donate a huge
sum of money to the school. Although, if your family donated a
monsterous sum of money, the heir of that family may get to continue
on the board of governors.

Service Grants/Trusts/Endowments-
Maybe Hogwarts gets a public grant in return for looking after the
Forbidden Forest, or other non-school related services they might perform.

These are all very common things that happen to all schools public and
private, so this is nothing special. 

TAXES-
There must be taxes, somehow they have to pay the salaries of all
those  Ministry employees, so it's reasonable to assume that some
portion of that goes to the ONLY school of witchcraft and wizardry in
the UK. 

One problem with taxes, if you are a muggle born witch or wizard, your
family has never paid taxes in the wizard world. So, does that mean
they now have to start paying taxes, or are the taxes only on
money/income and business that exist in the wizard world?

Tuition-
I vaguely remember Rowling commenting on this in a interview but can't
remember when or where, and I'm pretty sure her comment didn't resolve
the issue. 

There is no real indication that I have seen so far in the book that
indicates tuition is paid. There are references to Harry needing money
for school, but it's not clear whether that that money went for
tuition or just general personal and school expenses.

Additional speculation; maybe only advanced classes require tuition.
Maybe only schooling beyong O.W.L. level requirews tuition. Again, I
have absolutely nothing to support that. It's just a thought.

So, after all that, let me make one thing crystal clear - I don't
know; I don't think anyone knows.

Sorry.

bboy_mn