Tuition & Financial Aid
Choosing VES is a worthwhile investment in your child’s future. You’re ensuring that your child receives an excellent education with personalized attention, lives in a supportive and caring community, and is plugged into a vast network of Bishop alumni in the U.S. and beyond. By making the financial commitment to this journey, you are helping shape many promising paths for your child’s future.
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2026-27 Tuition
2026-2027 Tuition
Boarding: $69,500
Day: $31,500
International Boarding: $84,000
Five-Day Boarding: $59,500
Other Estimated Costs
Books: $600
Athletic Gear/Spirit Wear: $200
Activities & Entertainment: $1,000
Personal Items: $750
Personal Computer: $1,200
Additional Five-Day Boarding Information
VES offers a five-day boarding option for families in the Lynchburg area to consider. This is intended for local students who would like to have a boarding experience. Financial aid is not available for our five-day boarding option. We encourage families from the greater Lynchburg area interested in boarding to discuss their options with the Admission Team and Office of Financial Aid so we may guide you appropriately.
Financial Aid
VES recognizes that choosing a private education requires a tremendous financial commitment. In an effort to assist families with the costs associated with this choice, VES provides need-based financial aid to families who qualify.
Our Financial Aid Process
Families apply for financial aid at the same time their student applies for admission. Applications for financial aid will not be evaluated without a completed admission application. If your family is interested in applying for financial aid, it is important that you express that intention early in the admission process. You can do so through our Inquiry form, making the appropriate selection on the admission application.
To allow for comprehensive and equitable assessments of all financial aid applications, VES requires that all living parents submit financial information for consideration. Divorced or separated families should each submit a separate financial aid application, and proof of the custodial arrangement may be required. An application is not considered complete until all required information has been submitted. Completed admission and financial aid applications submitted by the published deadlines will be given priority.
VES offers only limited financial aid to international families who qualify. Additionally, VES does not guarantee financial assistance to supplement the cost of boarding for local Lynchburg families.
Application instructions
VES partners with Clarity Financial Aid to determine a family's level of financial need based on the information that families share in the application which includes assets, income, expenses, and debts. All domestic and international applicants should complete an application through Clarity to be considered for financial aid.
To get started, please follow the steps below. The application typically takes less than 30 minutes to complete and is mobile-friendly so you can complete it from anywhere. You are also able to save your progress and return at any time.
Please note, the application submission fee is $65 and must be paid in order for your application to be shared with VES.
Step 1
Go to https://app.clarityapp.com/sign-up.
Step 2
Begin your application and add Virginia Episcopal School to your student applicant entry. You can save your application and log out at any time and return later to complete it.
Step 3
US taxpayers: Complete the Clarity Enhanced Tax Verification (ETV) process to release your W2 and personal tax return transcripts from the IRS. You'll be asked to authorize the sharing of your tax transcripts and verify your identity. This is a one-time security measure required by the IRS to protect against identity theft and the compromise of personal information. Only those filing US taxes will be prompted to complete this step. Clarity offers two options for enhanced tax verification process: “Clarity” and “IRS”. Please reference the Tax Verification Guide to preview the steps of this process.
Parents/guardians who successfully completed this process last year, will not be asked to go through this process again. Upon submission of their application, the IRS will automatically release their tax transcripts to us based on last year’s authorization.
The IRS pathway is significantly faster, allowing for the tax documents to transfer to Clarity within 24 hours. For this reason, any applicant who applies after [date], will need to select the IRS pathway in order to meet our priority deadline. Clarity has found that families who have an **IRS.gov* account before starting the Clarity Application have a much easier time completing the process.
Step 4
Enter your financial information, review your application, and pay the $65 Clarity application fee.
Step 5
Submit your Clarity application and follow the link to return to your dashboard. Here you will see any additional supporting documents requested by schools. Upload your supporting documents by (deadline). Keep in mind that at a later date, you may be prompted by the school via Clarity to upload additional documentation as needed.
International families will be prompted to upload income verification in the forms of a paystub or employment letter stating salary, and a copy of a tax documents from their country, as applicable. Please provide these with English translation.
The 2027-2028 Clarity Family Application Guide can be a helpful resource as you complete your application.
If you need support during the process of completing your application, there is in-app support available through the “Help” button in the bottom left of the screen, as well as email and phone support at support@clarityapp.com or 206.210.3752, in both English and Spanish.
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Financial Aid Deadlines
Returning VES Families
December 1
New Families
Early Action (All Students)
December 1
New Regular Deadline for Day Students January 10
New Regular Deadline for Boarding Students
February 1
Financial Aid FAQs
How does Clarity make it easier for me to apply for financial aid?
a. Clarity offers a streamlined, mobile friendly application that can be completed in as short as 30 minutes. Additionally, Clarity removes the need to upload your personal tax return(s) and W2(s)by transferring them directly from the IRS. This saves you time so that you aren’t pulling out all of your tax returns and transposing numbers from the returns into the application. It is also more secure because you are not uploading copies of original documents, needing to redact the SSNs, and those copies or PDFs are not sitting unsecured on your desktop or in a folder on your computer, or in an email server, etc.
Is my information secure with Clarity?
a. VES takes the privacy and security of your personal information very seriously. Clarity is certified for both GDPR and SOC2 and uses enterprise-level security standards including end-to-end encryption of all personally identifiable information. For more information, please refer to Clarity’s Privacy Policy.
Do I need to apply for financial aid every year?
a. Yes, you will need to submit a Clarity application each year as part of VES' financial aid policy. Clarity retains your demographic information from previous applications, so it will be even easier to reapply.
Can I complete my Clarity application on my phone or tablet?
a. Yes. Clarity’s application is fully mobile-friendly so you have access wherever you are.
How do I get help if I have questions or encounter issues while completing my financial aid application?
a. You can contact Clarity Support directly by calling 206.210.3752, sending an email to support@clarityapp.com, or by clicking the “Help” button on the lower left-hand corner of each page of the application to connect with In-app support.
Can my financial aid application be evaluated before my student’s admission application is complete?
a. No. Admission applications must be complete before we will evaluate a family’s financial aid application.
Does Clarity determine the financial aid award that my family will receive?
a. No. Clarity collects a family’s financial information – income, assets, expenses, tax documentation – and provides a baseline assessment of a family’s demonstrated need for the VES Financial Aid Committee to consider. The Committee evaluation is governed by a set of standards applied to each application and includes special circumstances associated with the application. The committee also weighs the application against the prioritization and availability of funds to determine an award.
When do I need to apply?
a. Returning families should submit their financial aid application by December 1 each year. For new families, application deadlines vary depending on the admission deadline you intend to meet. Please follow the below deadlines when submitting both your admission application materials and your financial aid application:
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Early Action (All Students): December 1
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Regular Deadline for Day Students: January 10
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Regular Deadline for Boarding Students: February 1
Please note that if you are a returning VES family who does not currently receive financial aid, your application will be considered after award determinations have been communicated to new families and returning families who already receive financial aid
How are financial aid resources prioritized?
a. Due to limited resources, the submission of a financial aid application does not guarantee a financial aid award offer. Ultimately, the Committee acts in accordance to the strategic priorities and needs of the School. Financial aid resources are awarded in the following priority order:
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Returning families who currently receive financial aid who meet published deadlines
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New families with students entering the 9th or 10th grades who meet published deadlines
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All other families as funds remain available
I live outside the United States. Can I still apply for financial aid through Clarity?
a. Yes, along with the student's application, all families must fill out the Clarity application to the best of their ability including the Non-US Tax Filer Verification upload. If you live in Canada, you will be prompted to upload your T4, T1 and Notice of Assessment.
I have a choice to verify through Clarity or the IRS. Which should I use?
a. Both options will retrieve your tax returns from the IRS, and both require an identity verification step. Families who select the Clarity pathway will sign a tax request form (PDF) that is transmitted to the IRS for a human at the IRS to approve. This process can take 3-5 business days for verification. Families who select the IRS pathway will log into their IRS.gov account to sign and submit the tax authorization electronically. This process leads to verification in less than 24 hours.
I do not want to do the tax verification process, can I upload my 1040 and W2 instead?
a. There isn’t a way to bypass this part of the process.
Clarity utilizes IRS forms to securely obtain digital transcripts (not originals or copies) of your W2 and 1040 filings. These are standard forms used across the financial industry. If you’ve ever applied for a mortgage, refinanced, gotten a car loan, or any other personal loan, you likely filled out a similar form as part of that application. These are standard forms that those companies will use to determine what size loan you qualify for by retrieving transcripts of your most recent tax filing information. In fact, if you plan to use the FAFSA to apply for college financial aid, they will also ask you to complete these forms to obtain your tax transcripts just like Clarity does.
Clarity provides the forms in a secure docusign format where you’ll enter your SSN (this is completely masked and is only visible to you and the IRS), confirm your address and name are accurate, and then e-sign. The form then goes directly to the IRS, which then processes the request and provides the data and transcripts to Clarity within your application file. This saves you time so that you aren’t pulling out all of your tax returns and transposing numbers from the returns into the application. It is also more secure because you are not uploading copies of original documents, so those copies or PDFs are not sitting on your desktop or in a folder on your computer, or in an email server, or at the school office, etc.
Clarity is both SOC2 and GDPR compliant, which are gold standards for cybersecurity, and they are voluntarily audited on our security protocols by an independent assessor twice per year.
I am being asked to authorize for future year taxes too, why do you need this?
a. In both the IRS or Clarity pathways, families will provide authorization and consent for Clarity to retrieve their 2025 tax documents (1040 and W2) and share them with the schools on their application. Additionally, families will provide authorization (but not consent) for Clarity to retrieve their 2026, 2027, and 2028 tax documents (1040 and W2). The reason Clarity requests this advanced authorization is that it will allow Clarity to instantaneously retrieve and share future year tax documents with schools upon a family's re-application in those future years.
What if I don't reapply for financial aid next year?
a. If a family does not reapply for financial aid next year, then Clarity will not retrieve any future year tax documents for them. No future year tax documents are retrieved without the family submitting a financial aid application and consenting to their release for the relevant school year.
What if I am not comfortable with authorizing Clarity to retrieve future year taxes?
a. If a family does not submit another financial aid application, then Clarity will never retrieve any future year tax documents. The authorization for future year tax documents that families provide enables Clarity to pull future year tax documents as soon as a family reapplies for financial aid in a future school year, but Clarity will never retrieve future year tax documents without the family reapplying for financial aid in those future years.
Who are James McGowan, Elizabeth Boonin, and Curtis Knuth?
a. Tax Authorization Requests require an IRS credentialed designee on file as a liable party. James, Elizabeth, and Curtis are Clarity’s designated IRS practitioners, so their names are displayed on the paperwork sent to the IRS.
What if I file an extension? How will that impact my application?
a. If a family’s 2025 taxes are not available at the time that they submit their financial aid application, they should indicate the date they plan to file on their application. They will be prompted to sign the tax authorization forms for their W2s if they report receiving them, and will likely be required to upload their 1040 tax documents for manual review.
I’m being prompted to verify my identity. What does this process involve?
a. Identity verification is a one-time process where a parent/guardian uploads a picture of a government-issued photo ID and takes a selfie photo to verify their identity. Parents/guardians can complete this process from within the financial aid application, or have a link texted to their mobile device to complete it there.
Who needs to complete the identity verification process?
a. All parents/guardians who are US taxpayers are required to provide tax documents through Clarity’s new IRS integration, and will be prompted to complete the one-time identity verification process.
How do I know my identity information that I share in the identity verification process is secure?
a. Clarity takes safeguarding your personal data incredibly seriously and goes through annual SOC2 audits as well as engages in annual penetration testing. Additionally, all of the data collected during the identity verification process is stored in an encrypted database and will only be accessed in the event of an audit by the IRS.
Does the identity verification process need to be completed every year?
a. No, parents/guardians who are US taxpayers are only required to complete identity verification one time and will not be asked to re-verify in future years, provided they use the same account.
Do both parents/guardians have to verify their identity?
a. The IRS requires the identity verification for each parent/guardian that has a W2 and/or tax return. If both parents/guardians in the household file jointly, and only one receives a W2, we do not require the identity verification for the parent/guardian who does not receive a W2. If the both parents/guardians in the household file their tax returns separately, they will both have to verify their identity.
Do both parents/guardians need to be present to complete the identity verification step?
a. Both parent/guardians need to complete this step, but they do not need to complete it at the same time. For families following the Clarity pathway, a link can be texted to the second parent/guardian, allowing them to complete verification conveniently from their mobile device. For families following the IRS pathway, the other parent/guardian will need to complete this step when they are able to in order to complete the process.
I don’t want to go through the identity verification process. How do I avoid it?
a. The identity verification process is something that the IRS requires of all US taxpayers in order to authorize the sharing of tax transcripts. There is no way around it, but it’s a one time process, which means that once parents/guardians do it this year, they won’t have to do it again in the future.
Questions
For all Financial Aid questions, contact Director of Financial Aid, Rebecca Snover at rsnover@ves.org or 434.385.3604.
Clarity Support
For questions regarding the Clarity application, contact the Clarity support team at support@clarityapp.com or 206.210.3752.
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