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Fair price for ESL classes in the States
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Arcane



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 5:16 am    Post subject: Fair price for ESL classes in the States Reply with quote

I'm a newer ESL instructor (less than 3 years professional experience) and am thinking of teaching beginning level ESL classes independently at a library or community center. Because I will be independent, I will be responsible for covering the costs of materials myself. What is a fair price to charge for classes?

I've done some research in the area and have found a rather large range of prices. Some CBO's (community based organizations) are offering ESL for free, to $11 per class from the community college and up from there.

I was thinking of a rate that breaks down to $5 per 2 hour class (per person), with a class schedule of twice per week. Does that seem reasonable, too low or too high (considering my experience level)? I've only taught for a CBO that offered the classes for free because we served a large refugee population and government grants and private donations covered the bulk of our expenses.

Thanks for any advice or input.
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rtm



Joined: 13 Apr 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 6:39 am    Post subject: Re: Fair price for ESL classes in the States Reply with quote

Arcane wrote:
I was thinking of a rate that breaks down to $5 per 2 hour class (per person), with a class schedule of twice per week. Does that seem reasonable, too low or too high (considering my experience level)? I've only taught for a CBO that offered the classes for free because we served a large refugee population and government grants and private donations covered the bulk of our expenses.


$5 seems way too low to me, but it really depends on what your 'competition' is charging. I just searched my local Craigslist, and where I am, the going rate for private ESL lessons seems to be around $20-$30/hour. That's for one-on-one or small group private lessons though -- are you hoping to offer larger group lessons?

You mentioned that you hope to hold the classes at a library or community center. Are you sure you can use those facilities for business purposes?
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santi84



Joined: 14 Mar 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would not charge less than $10-15 per person, assuming you will have multiple students. I don't think I would charge for group lessons though, I think it seems wise to offer private 1:1 at a much higher rate. Students who are looking for a bargain/shared expenses will likely choose one of the many CBO available. Students who want more attention tend to be willing to pay for it. That's just IMO. Our library does not officially allow us to charge for "classes" (I actually teach those in the library with the library's permission, as part of a CBO). I do see a lot of 1:1 stuff going on though, and I am sure cash is exchanged. It seems harder to be discrete about a group class. Community centres tend to charge for facility usage so again, I think $5 is too low. Good luck. If you decide to do this, I'd love to know your results.
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
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Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Fair price for ESL classes in the States Reply with quote

Arcane wrote:
I was thinking of a rate that breaks down to $5 per 2 hour class (per person), with a class schedule of twice per week. Does that seem reasonable, too low or too high (considering my experience level)? I've only taught for a CBO that offered the classes for free because we served a large refugee population and government grants and private donations covered the bulk of our expenses.


Assuming you run a ten-week term, that's $100 for forty hours of instruction which, in my part of the U.S., would be a pretty good deal. $140-170 seems to be the going rate in my area. However, your overhead will be much lower than that of a larger program, so you should be able to afford to offer the lower fee.

You might try setting up an Excel spreadsheet to work out your expenses and figure out the minimum number of students you need to break even. While you're at it, I'd pick up a few books at the public library on setting up and running a home-based business (yes, I realize that classes won't be offered out of your home, but that presumably will be the location where you run all the business aspects of your teaching). These books give a pretty simple breakdown on how to do basic things that those of us in education are often unfamiliar with: marketing, advertising, taxes, budgeting, liability insurance, etc.

Using free community spaces (e.g., meeting rooms in libraries) is a great idea if, as RTM pointed out, there are no restrictions due to you using the facilities for business purposes. I have a colleague here in the States who runs a private tutoring business out of a local public library (since it's one on one, one on two, etc. she just meets with her students in the public study area) for four to five hours every afternoon after school. The regular patrons know her as "the library lady" because she basically lives there.

Another way to keep your costs down is to require your students to buy their own student book, workbook, etc., which would not be unreasonable given the low class fee your are proposing.

Rather than charging for each class session, I'd suggest charging by five, or better yet, ten-week terms. That way, you're able to control your cash flow a bit better and are less prone to fluctuations if a student shows up for two or three classes and then disappears (and there will be attrition).

Good luck, and keep us posted on how it goes!
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Arcane



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for your response rtm. I'm looking specifically at prices for classes. I'm aware that rates for private lessons would be higher and I plan to offer private lessons at the appropriate rate in addition to classes. Private lessons rates seem to be much more consistent than the class rates. Right now, I'm trying to determine a good rate for a class of about 15 students at a time, coming twice per week for two hours a class.

Yes, there is enough of a demand for ESL in my area that local institutions would be accommodating if the prices were set to be affordable to our ESL learning population. I think $5 per class is quite modest but also fair to me for coverage of expenses (considering the host institution will not be charging a rental fee).

I'm just not sure if it's too modest. I don't want to start extremely low and then be unable to increase the price because everyone would have gotten used to it. I'm wondering if there is some standard general formula to follow (take the average price of private lessons in that area and charge no less than a quarter of that price for classes).
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

santi84 wrote:
I don't think I would charge for group lessons though, I think it seems wise to offer private 1:1 at a much higher rate.


Excellent suggestion! If the OP decides to go that route, it may be possible to pick up a few clients via http://www.wyzant.com/ That would also be a good place to get an idea of what the going rate is for one-on-one tutoring in her/his area.
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esl_prof



Joined: 30 Nov 2013
Posts: 2006
Location: peyi kote solèy frèt

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Arcane wrote:
Right now, I'm trying to determine a good rate for a class of about 15 students at a time, coming twice per week for two hours a class. . . I think $5 per class is quite modest but also fair to me for coverage of expenses (considering the host institution will not be charging a rental fee). . . I'm just not sure if it's too modest.


Assuming you can get that many students to sign up for and pay in advance for a five or ten week session, that's an income of $37.50 per hour. How does that compare to the going hourly rate for an ESL instructor in your community? Subtract out the going hourly rate (e.g., $22/hour), and then determine if you have enough left to cover overhead such as self-employment taxes, time and resources used to advertise classes, time needed for placement and registration of prospective students, etc. Also, I'm assuming that, since pay for ESL teachers is generally quite low, you want to go it on your own in hopes of making a bit more than the average hourly salary. If so, then increase the hourly rate mentioned above before you start making your other calculations. Again, this is where a library copy of the Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Home-Based Business will come in handy.


Last edited by esl_prof on Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:42 pm; edited 1 time in total
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santi84



Joined: 14 Mar 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would not charge $5 per class, because that is peanuts to a student - it is easy for them to decide to no-show. If you feel that $5 per class is what you wish to charge, then charge by a 6/8/10 week term @ ($30-50, 2-3 x $30-50 or whatever). Students tend to be more ... motivated with some investment. I still feel that your rate is too low, but it is your decision. I would recommend a bit more market research. Are you targeting refugees, established immigrants, or international students? It makes a big difference. I find refugees tend to stay within CBO and established immigrants seek out private group lessons. International students tend to stick with 1:1. Good luck!
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santi84



Joined: 14 Mar 2008
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Location: under da sea

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also, don't underestimate marketing costs and timing issues. I can easily get 20+ students during a night class at the library (6-8pm) and 1-3 during the daytime (1-3pm). For marketing, we use newspaper ads, website links, flyers at city hall, and promotion through the library itself (which you likely can't use). It all adds up. Don't underestimate your worth, and don't underestimate the spending power of your customers. People will pay for quality.
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Arcane



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I would not charge less than $10-15 per person, assuming you will have multiple students. I don't think I would charge for group lessons though, I think it seems wise to offer private 1:1 at a much higher rate. Students who are looking for a bargain/shared expenses will likely choose one of the many CBO available.


This is a good point and I've considered this myself. Though having worked in those CBO's, there are literally college volunteers running many of those classes. Some have bona fide trained teachers but many are able to offer the classes for free because they have free (volunteer) teachers with very little training. When I considered the idea of offering classes, I was focusing largely on the product that I would be offering. Structured interactive learning with a great curriculum of useful topics from a trained professional. I realized it may be slow in the beginning but in our immigrant community, word of mouth is strong. Also, I am experienced with teaching bare bones beginning leaves (I mean teaching ABCs and 123's to adults who may have not been literate in their first language). There are fewer instructors who can teach at this level and of those, there are even fewer who enjoy it. Lastly, the CBO's fill up fast and classes close, leaving many ELL's with no free options after the start of the semester. I plan to be at least an affordable option.

I was hoping to keep it low enough to undercut most of the other competition, and while private lessons make the most money, I really enjoy teaching classes I do want to be able to reach as many people as possible. I genuinely want to help our immigrant community acclimate to life in the US and to give them something to increase their quality of life here, the ability to communicate and therefore advocate for themselves and achieve their goals (work, higher education, involvement in chid's school, etc.)

Quote:
You might try setting up an Excel spreadsheet to work out your expenses and figure out the minimum number of students you need to break even.


Excellent suggestion, I've already spent late nights doing just that. I've determined I would need to run four 12 week sessions a year, about 12 classes a week (6 classes happening twice a week) with about 15 students in each class at said rate to achieve my income goals. This does not yet include private lessons.


Quote:
Rather than charging for each class session, I'd suggest charging by five, or better yet, ten-week terms. That way, you're able to control your cash flow a bit better and are less prone to fluctuations if a student shows up for two or three classes and then disappears (and there will be attrition).


Yes! I wouldn't be charging by the lesson, this is just how the cost breaks down. I intend to charge $120 for 48 hours of instruction, due at the beginning of the session. I'm glad this still sounds reasonable.

Great advice everyone. After hearing your replies, I will start to put more planning towards private lessons rather than group classes . After hearing your points, I think my original plan doesn't take the prevalence of free classes enough into account and make my projections a bit unrealistic. However, for the reasons stated above, I would like to keep a class or two going if I can.
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santi84



Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: under da sea

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Arcane wrote:
Quote:
I would not charge less than $10-15 per person, assuming you will have multiple students. I don't think I would charge for group lessons though, I think it seems wise to offer private 1:1 at a much higher rate. Students who are looking for a bargain/shared expenses will likely choose one of the many CBO available.


This is a good point and I've considered this myself. Though having worked in those CBO's, there are literally college volunteers running many of those classes. Some have bona fide trained teachers but many are able to offer the classes for free because they have free (volunteer) teachers with very little training. When I considered the idea of offering classes, I was focusing largely on the product that I would be offering. Structured interactive learning with a great curriculum of useful topics from a trained professional. I realized it may be slow in the beginning but in our immigrant community, word of mouth is strong. Also, I am experienced with teaching bare bones beginning leaves (I mean teaching ABCs and 123's to adults who may have not been literate in their first language). There are fewer instructors who can teach at this level and of those, there are even fewer who enjoy it. Lastly, the CBO's fill up fast and classes close, leaving many ELL's with no free options after the start of the semester. I plan to be at least an affordable option.


Agreed, and I've seen some of those untrained teachers who seem to think students absorb speaking skills by listen to them blabber on and on (eek).

It is great if you can teach pre-literate students, but it is going to take some tricky marketing. How will they even know you exist? I would target their local community organizations and seek out some assistance with that. Unfortunately, so many low-literacy students are in the dark as to what services exist for them. Get creative and you'll find your market.
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Arcane



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hmm, seemed to have triple posted. How do I delete?

Last edited by Arcane on Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Arcane



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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

deleted

Last edited by Arcane on Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:40 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Arcane



Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 10

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

esl_prof wrote:
Assuming you can get that many students to sign up for and pay in advance for a five or ten week session, that's an income of $37.50 per hour. How does that compare to the going hourly rate for an ESL instructor in your community? Subtract out the going hourly rate (e.g., $22/hour), and then determine if you have enough left to cover overhead such as self-employment taxes, time and resources used to advertise classes, time needed for placement and registration of prospective students, etc. Also, I'm assuming that, since pay for ESL teachers is generally quite low, you want to go it on your own in hopes of making a bit more than the average hourly salary. If so, then increase the hourly rate mentioned above before you start making your other calculations. Again, this is where a library copy of the Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Home-Based Business will come in handy.


I honestly hadn't thought of this. I realize I really need to bring in more knowledge on home business running not just class instruction. I'll be picking up a copy of this book today.



santi84 wrote:
I would not charge $5 per class, because that is peanuts to a student - it is easy for them to decide to no-show. If you feel that $5 per class is what you wish to charge, then charge by a 6/8/10 week term @ ($30-50, 2-3 x $30-50 or whatever). Students tend to be more ... motivated with some investment. I still feel that your rate is too low, but it is your decision. I would recommend a bit more market research. Are you targeting refugees, established immigrants, or international students? It makes a big difference. I find refugees tend to stay within CBO and established immigrants seek out private group lessons. International students tend to stick with 1:1. Good luck!


Important considerations. This idea was born while teaching at my current CBO and having to wait-list/turn away so many students seeking classes. Our organization serves primarily refugees and you are absolutely correct in that refugees tend to stick with CBO's. Our org also has relationships with the area refugee resettlement agencies, so many of our students are "fresh off the boat" (airplane in today's terms). This is how I was able to become so skilled at "level 0" ESL. I tend to keep the prices low because I suppose I'm still expecting a refugee community in my classes, however as you pointed out, this may not be the case at all. Refugees are probably most likely to wait for classes to open or seek free classes at another CBO before paying for them. And those who can pay for them can probably afford more than $5 a class. I'm glad I asked this question here!

santi84 wrote:
Also, don't underestimate marketing costs and timing issues. I can easily get 20+ students during a night class at the library (6-8pm) and 1-3 during the daytime (1-3pm). For marketing, we use newspaper ads, website links, flyers at city hall, and promotion through the library itself (which you likely can't use). It all adds up. Don't underestimate your worth, and don't underestimate the spending power of your customers. People will pay for quality.


True. Solid point.

santi84 wrote:
It is great if you can teach pre-literate students, but it is going to take some tricky marketing. How will they even know you exist? I would target their local community organizations and seek out some assistance with that. Unfortunately, so many low-literacy students are in the dark as to what services exist for them. Get creative and you'll find your market.


Well the idea was kicked off because the demand was higher than our supply at the CBO. I thought I would start with all of those rejected students and then a combination of advertising from the free resources out there and word of mouth. Word of mouth is why we end up with more students than we can host every semester at my CBO. Within our immigrant community (mostly southeast Asian), a suggestion from friend or family is much, much stronger than an advertisement. They will only listen to what they can trust and will stick to it fairly strongly (I saw a girl come to tears when we told her our classes were full and despite suggestions of free classes elsewhere).

Well, I'll continue to do my research and also build relationships with the library, community agencies and those refuge resettlement agencies as well. Hopefully this will result in referrals and free advertising.

Thanks again for the great advise and suggestions everyone. Extremely helpful.
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rtm



Joined: 13 Apr 2007
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Location: US

PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Arcane wrote:
This idea was born while teaching at my current CBO and having to wait-list/turn away so many students seeking classes.


A big question with all of this is how many students you'll be able to get, and how many you will need to make enough money to make it worth your time. You're also going to have to get a large-ish number of students all at relatively the same level. One-to-one private lessons work well because you can take any and all students at whatever level they are at. Of course, you know your local market better than we do.

Quote:
I've determined I would need to run four 12 week sessions a year, about 12 classes a week (6 classes happening twice a week) with about 15 students in each class at said rate to achieve my income goals. This does not yet include private lessons.

Is that one course that meets for 12 hrs a week? Or 6 courses, each of which meets twice a week (for an hour each time?) Or something else?
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