[HPforGrownups] Re: Hogwarts Tuition/Thoughts on Crooked noses: wasWeasley Family

[Shaun Hately]

No: HPFGUIDX 73156

On 25 Jul 2003 at 19:38, megalynn44 wrote:

> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Kathryn Cawte" 
> <kcawte at b...> wrote:
> >  
> >  
> > bboy_mn:
> > I seems like if it was a big deal, it
> > > would have been mentioned.
> >  
> > ~Me:
> >  
> > BUt that's the thing it is NOT a big deal, it's just as normal to 
> pay 
> > for education as it is for food, clothing, and everything else in 
> life.
> > 
> K replied:
> > 
> > Uh no it isn't. Paying for schooling is unusual, especially in the 
> UK. Which
> > isn't to say that we don't have public schools - because we do, 
> but state
> > run education is *always* free. Harry or Hermione or one of the 
> other
> > muggle-borns would have said *something* I think if they were 
> expected to
> > pay tuition.
> > 
> >Me:
> We aren't talking about public schools, we are talking about 
> boarding schools. I have honestly never heard of a free boarding 
> school anywhere, because private schools cost a lot of money 
> and are not funded by taxes. My original post covers why 
> Hogwarts is not governmentally funded so I won't go back into 
> that.

Megalynn, you should realise that when K said 'public schools' she was 
talking about something close to what an American would call a 'private 
school'. For historical reasons, the term 'Public School' in the UK 
refers to schools like Eton and the like - sometimes extremely expensive 
private boarding schools. You seem to have a knowledge of the US 
education system. The UK system is quite different, and you shouldn't 
extrapolate too much.

Hogwarts is definitely in the British 'Public School' mould, and schools 
of those types *do* have fees today. However, that doesn't mean Hogwarts 
must do so - I honestly do not think we have enough data to be sure.

Several of the elite British Public schools were founded with large 
endownments which historically meant that students could attend them 
free of charge (either all students or just some). Inflation over the 
years meant those endownments shrank in real terms until the schools 
began to have to charge fees - larger and larger fees.

The Wizarding World has its own economy, it's own monetary system, that 
seems to be run on considerably different lines than that of the world 
in general. Banking is a monopoly. It's not unreasonable to suppose that 
inflation has never been a significant issue for the Wizarding World 
(especially if they've remained on a standard where coins are truly made 
of precious metals, so they have a real (as opposed to theoretical) 
value. So any endownment may have retained its value - or if invested 
reasonably have increased its value.

Also - we have indications (from JKR, I believe) that Hogwarts is the 
only Wizarding School in Britain, and that not all wizarding children 
get to attend. It may be that Hogwarts deliberately limits how many 
students it takes in order to preserve any endownment.

Hogwarts is not a normal school in our normal world. Economically 
speaking, people have to be very careful making assumptions about how it 
might be funded, based on our world.

Personally, my view is that Hogwarts is probably free of tuition - but 
that's based on nothing particularly logical except my own experiences. 
I came from a very work class background, without a lot of money 
available, and from the age of 13 found myself attending one of 
Australia's most elite private schools (in fact, it was referred to as a 
'Public' school as well) - frankly, if the Weasleys were paying fees for 
their kids, I would have expected to hear about it from Mrs Weasley 
*especially* when she was trying to encourage Fred and George to work 
harder, especially given the twins do seem to be obsessed with money, 
that's an argument I'd be stunned if she didn't try ("You're wasting a 
fortune!").

And I don't think the Weasley's are likely to be getting any exemption - 
because I am virtually certain that if they were, Draco would know about 
it (given his father's position) and he would be the type to tease Ron 
unmercifully about being any sort of bursary-boy.

Not particularly logical arguments (-8 But in the absence of any proof 
one way or the other, my views are influenced by having to attend a very 
expensive school while coming from a (relatively) poor background (-8

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia