Executive Summary
What the Index Shows
The middle half of eligible weekly tuition runs from $188 to $433. The full observed range is much wider, from $90 to $1638, so the median is more useful than either extreme for understanding this sample.
- Lower Quartile
- $188 25% are at or below
- Median
- $319 Middle weekly figure
- Upper Quartile
- $433 75% are at or below
- Observed Range
- $90 to $1638 Not a recommended budget
Read this as a directory index, not a national average
Each program location counts once, so a school with multiple locations can appear more than once. Several locations can also share one detailed program page and one published price. This is not a national survey, a school ranking, or a distribution of independent schools.
Methodology
Coverage and Calculation
The index uses only dated school prices that can be converted into a weekly figure without changing the school’s published units.
25% coverage of 378 program locations. The remaining 283 locations are excluded, not treated as free.
- 1Start With Comparable Prices
Exclude prices needing confirmation and school prices whose published units cannot be compared.
- 2Select the Published Session
Use the highest published weekly workload and the longest qualifying session when several options are available.
- 3Calculate the Weekly Figure
Divide tuition by published weeks and round to the nearest dollar. Course, lesson, and session units are not converted.
Deduplicated View
78 distinct published price groups
Program locations with the same website, program name, session details and price are counted once in this view. That reduces the influence of locations that publish the same price, but it is still not a count of all independent US schools.
- Q1
- $188
- Median
- $304
- Q3
- $400
- Range
- $90–$1638
Comparison
Weekly Tuition by School Type
Quartiles count each distinct published price once so repeated locations with shared pricing do not dominate a category. “Affiliation not recorded” means unknown, not independent.
University or college
25 distinct published pricesMedian$400/ week
Middle half: $320 to $489
25 comparable prices across 83 program locations
Private provider
29 distinct published pricesMedian$188/ week
Middle half: $136 to $320
35 comparable prices across 198 program locations
Affiliation not recorded
26 distinct published pricesMedian$289/ week
Middle half: $205 to $369
35 comparable prices across 97 program locations
View the full affiliation data table
| School Type | Program Locations | Comparable Prices | Distinct Prices | Q1 | Median | Q3 | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University or college | 83 | 25 | 25 | $320 | $400 | $489 | $188 to $922 |
| Private provider | 198 | 35 | 29 | $136 | $188 | $320 | $90 to $1638 |
| Affiliation not recorded | 97 | 35 | 26 | $205 | $289 | $369 | $136 to $570 |
State Samples
States Meeting the Publication Threshold
Only states with at least 8 program locations with comparable weekly tuition are published. Smaller samples are omitted instead of being presented as stable state medians.
- Median
- $374
- Middle Half
- $220–$489
- Range
- $90–$586
- Median
- $183
- Middle Half
- $135–$300
- Range
- $110–$570
Why only 2 states? A program count is not the same as a price sample. We withhold state medians until at least 8 comparable weekly prices are available.
Use the Research
Downloads, Citation, and Updates
Suggested Citation
ApplyESL, “US English Program Cost Index,” updated September 16, 2026, based on ApplyESL program data and tuition published by schools.Report a correction or source update
Change Log
- Counted each shared published price once in school-type comparisons and raised the state threshold to eight comparable weekly prices.
- First reproducible report published.