Admissions recognizes need among Lab students

There’s a stereotype around the city that everyone at Lab has money, that everyone who attends has the financial means to go on extravagant vacations, ride around in expensive cars, and constantly explore Chicago’s finest restaurants — all in addition to the costs of a Lab education.

A recent video on the popular social media app TikTok showed a user lip syncing to a monologue describing affluence and college admissions while superimposing names of high schools in the Chicago area, generalizing about the demographics of each school. When Latin School is mentioned, the user says, “Well, I’m rich, so…” and when Lab is mentioned, the user says “What? I’m rich, too, bro!”

However, according to Lab’s website, approximately 80% of the student body receives some type of assistance toward tuition, including financial aid packages, scholarships, as well as tuition remission for children of Lab employees or other University of Chicago employees. Yet many families still have financial need, and a new study is exploring it.

“Those of us in the admission office have been mindful of [costs outside tuition] for some time. We know that costs go beyond tuition,” Kerry Tulson, assistant director of admission and financial aid, said, explaining Lab’s current inability to assist with paying for any other costs than tuition. 

This leaves families responsible for the costs of books, lunches, overnight field trips, extended-day care for younger students, P.E. clothes and more. At present, the only additional resource for families is communication with the financial aid office via the office’s email. Irene Reed, director of admissions and financial aid, says that the needs that are brought to the attention of the office this way are not always available to be met.

New efforts to support every student from any family financial situation have begun with the recently released strategic framework, which aims to ensure a healthy and inclusive community. To do so, a school-wide study is being done to examine all the non-tuition costs at Lab. The study will audit the bills families pay through FACTS and for MyBookstore and collaborate with the administrative teams for all schools at Lab.

Ms. Tulson reports that only after the study has finished will the process of raising funds for students and families begin to offer Lab’s education to a more socio-economically diverse range of students.