Groundwork believes that strong relationships with the Earth are a right, not a privilege. We use several experimental financial models as part of our commitment to equity and access in environmental education.
Our Commitment
Groundwork is committed to challenging colonialism and its legacies, including white supremacy, capitalism, and economic inequity. As part of this commitment, we strive to make our programs accessible to as many people as possible, experimenting with different financial models that aim to bring more equity to environmental education and to counter societal and historical trends that push environmental education out of reach for people who have been disadvantaged in society through no fault of their own. We believe that everybody deserves the opportunity to build relationships with our common home, and that deeper relationships with the Earth form a foundation not only for a sustainable and livable future, but for a joyful, just, and equitable future as well.
Jump to a financial model:
The Slider Model
Our Slider Model is used for the following programs: Human & Natural Ecologies of Colorado.
In this model, tuition is set on a sliding scale with 22 specific household income brackets paying percentages of a base tuition. On program pages using the Slider Model, the tuition slider starts on the base tuition ($60,000-$65,000 income bracket), and slides from 65% of tuition at the lowest end to 185% at the highest.
The Slider Model clearly defines a sliding scale and aims to:
- Give guidance and clarity for how income relates to our sliding scale. Most tiered payment systems leave people uncertain which level they should pay at.
- Provide up-front transparency in our tuition and financial aid.
- Alleviate the undue hardships that scholarship systems place on people with fewer economic resources (more on this below).
Sample Slider Model
As an example, the Slider Model below would be for a Groundwork program with a starting tuition of $100.
Household Income:
Program Tuition:
The Underlying Numbers
| Household Income | Percent of Tuition |
|---|---|
| Under $25,000 | 65% |
| $25,000–$30,000 | 68% |
| $30,000-$35,000 | 71% |
| $35,000-$40,000 | 76% |
| $40,000-$45,000 | 81% |
| $45,000-$50,000 | 86% |
| $50,000-$55,000 | 91% |
| $55,000-$60,000 | 96% |
| $60,000-$65,000 | 100% |
| $65,000-$70,000 | 106% |
| $70,000-$75,000 | 112% |
| $75,000-$80,000 | 118% |
| $80,000-$85,000 | 124% |
| $85,000-$90,000 | 130% |
| $90,000-$95,000 | 136% |
| $95,000-$100,000 | 142% |
| $100,000-$105,000 | 148% |
| $105,000-$115,000 | 154% |
| $115,000-$125,000 | 160% |
| $125,000-$135,000 | 166% |
| $135,000-$150,000 | 172% |
| Above $150,000 | 178% |
For households in the highest income bracket on our Slider Model, we do not continue to increase your tuition. Instead, we ask that in addition to your tuition to Groundwork, you make proportional contributions to other organizations working on environmental justice, food sovereignty, and related issues.
Naturalist Middle School Tuition
Tuition for the 2024-2025 Naturalist Middle School covers the teacher’s salary, classroom and office materials, and skill-based materials. Tuition does not include student’s personal materials, transportation, or other trip/event associated costs.
2024-2025 Tuition
New Students $5,500
Returning Students $5,000
Deposit
A $1,000 non-refundable deposit is due to secure a spot for your student. The deposit counts towards your total tuition payment for the year.
Tuition Payments
The remainder of your tuition (after paying the deposit) is due in 9 monthly increments on the 15th of each month beginning August 15th. You may also choose to pay the full tuition amount up front.
The Fellowship Model
Our Fellowship Model is used for the following programs: Food Systems Fellowship and Lithium Lands Fellowship.
This model offers experiences as an exchange. Generally, participants receive food, rustic housing, and a small stipend in exchange for taking part in activities that help pay for the whole experience. On our farm in Colorado, fellows help with farm operations. On the Lithium Lands Fellowship, participants take part in scientific surveys.
Our Fellowship Model is designed to be the most radical of our tuition models. For this model to function well, fellows and mentors alike need to step outside of cultural norms and experiment with radical forms of communal relationships. On our fellowship programs, participants and mentors live and work together, forming small intentional communities based around engaging with the Earth in mutually beneficial ways. Education is no longer a product to be sold, but a product of daily life. Learning produces not only knowledge, but valuable products like vegetables that can feed participants and be sold to finance the whole program. We see this model as the most sustainable model for the future, taking successful elements from traditional structures like apprenticeships and village-style living. The Fellowship Model is empowering for people who lack privilege: it puts education back into the hands of everyday people and has the potential to free education from the need for large amounts of capital.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you define a household’s income for the Slider Model?
If nobody can claim you as a dependent on their U.S. federal income taxes, we define your household income as your average adjusted gross income over the past 2 years, plus all realized and unrealized capital gains from that time period.
If somebody can claim you as a dependent on their U.S. federal income taxes, we define your household income as whichever adjusted gross income plus capital gains are higher—yours or theirs. We know that our definition is based on U.S. tax systems—if you pay taxes in a country besides the United States, please contact us about your situation, and we’ll find a tuition that works for you.
What if I have a unique situation that should be accounted for separately?
If you think your case has additional considerations that might alter how we should place you on the payment scale, please contact us directly. A few examples of additional considerations are: you provide financial support to your family, your tax documents need additional context to accurately reflect your situation, or you have outstanding medical or legal bills.
Why not scholarships?
We see that scholarship systems disincentivize people with fewer economic means from pursuing education in four ways:
- Dependence on scholarships place undue uncertainty onto an application process.
- Scholarship-based systems create sticker shock while leaving the final price for any prospective student a mystery. This complicates decisions to apply.
- Scholarship-based systems devalue people with less economic power by asking them to prove themselves worthy. These people must work harder to apply.
- Scholarship-based systems can prejudice organizations against scholarship-seekers, because it requires greater administrative effort to process and review applications for scholarships.
How can I give feedback about your tuition structures?
We acknowledge that our systems are not perfect. The Slider Model does not encompass one of the biggest variables that defines economic power: net worth and generational wealth. All our models leave a lot of decisions in the hands of people applying for programs, and there is potential for deception. If you think that a tuition model does not accurately reflect your financial situation, feel free to contact us and we can talk about your situation.
If you have suggestions for ways to improve this system, please let us know!
My organization is considering a similar structure to one of your models. Do you have any advice?
Please get ahold of us—we would love to chat with you about your perspectives on equitable pay structures! Our structures are experimental, and we would love to share the lessons we have learned.
Inspiration and Thanks
We owe our thanks to generative somatics and The Wild Garden for influencing our thinking about sliding scale structures. The Fellowship Model was heavily influenced by Mission: Wolf in Westcliffe, Colorado, Pun Pun Farm in Mae Taeng, Thailand, and SECMOL in Ladakh, India.