Cost Considerations and Funding Sources for Out-of-School Time (OST) High-Impact Tutoring Programs

This document outlines costs and funding sources needed to develop and/or grow a high-impact tutoring program during out-of-school time – either within an existing OST program or as a new program. The amount and type of funding needed will be based on the model of your tutoring program. Use this cost calculator and OST High-Impact Tutoring Cost/Funding Tool to understand your projected costs. This information is compiled from interviews with OST providers that currently offer high impact tutoring programs. 

Program Costs and Potential Sources to Consider

Program costs depend on the model and type of partnership established with the school district(s), your national affiliate (if applicable), and other community-based organizations for the tutoring program. These costs can be divided into three main categories: staffing costs, onboarding and training costs, and additional program costs. Where relevant, the costs below include suggestions for leveraging existing resources within your OST program and from the local school district(s). These costs tend to recur on an annual basis, and therefore should be considered as part of multi-year planning. 

  • Staffing Costs & Potential Sources 
    • Tutor Wages/Stipend
      • In addition to allocating funding directly from your overall program budget, support options include high-impact tutoring grants available from your state agency, federal work-study funding to fund higher education students as tutors, partnerships built through AmeriCorps funding, and community service credit for college and/or high school students
      • By considering multiple funding sources, OST programs can focus tutor job responsibilities solely on tutoring instead of asking tutors to simultaneously manage students not being tutored
    • Program Management Staff Wages/Stipends
      • In addition to allocating funding directly from your overall program budget, support options include allocating budget for program management in high-impact tutoring grants available from your state agency 
    • Program Support Staff Wages/Stipends (Coaches, Site Directors, etc.) 
      • Support options include hiring experienced teachers from the local community as coaches instead of tutors to expand their impact and working with your local college to see if faculty with instructional backgrounds can coach tutors.  This option is especially relevant if you are partnering with a local college to hire students to tutor
    • Personnel Fringe Benefits
  • Onboarding and Training Costs & Potential Sources
    • Curriculum and Assessments 
    • Training Curriculum and Materials 
      • Support options include state, district, or school of education existing materials, Saga Coach asynchronous training modules
      • Additional training materials can be viewed in our Tutor Training Library. 
    • Legal, Marketing, HR support 
      • For existing OST providers, these functions already exist, and therefore costs will only increase by the marginal costs of additional program operations
    • Training Stipends for Tutors 
      • In addition to allocating funding directly from your overall program budget, support options include high-impact tutoring grants available from your state agency,  federal work-study funding to fund higher education students as tutors, partnerships built through AmeriCorps funding, and community service credit for college and/or high school students
    • Fingerprinting/Background Check Costs as required by the OST program
      • For existing OST providers, this function is already embedded in operations, and therefore has not been a barrier to program development
  • Additional Program Costs & Potential Sources
    • Technology devices for tutors and students
    • Supplies (school supplies, communications about program)
    • Evaluation 
      • support options include grants from your local state agency and/or philanthropic funding to evaluate the impact of the high impact tutoring program
    • Other Costs

Financial and Non-financial Sources to Consider 

While each OST provider accesses different funding streams, most OST tutoring programs leverage a combination of multiple funding sources. OST providers can consider the financial funding sources below: 

  • Allocate funding directly from your overall program budget for high-impact tutoring.
  • Search the Afterschool Alliance funding database for out-of-school time programs. The database has filters by state, grade level, program area, and type of grant. These funding sources range from local to national. (Note: this database does not have tutoring as an option, though they do have Recovery/COVID, Academic Enrichment, Literacy/Reading, and STEM which may be eligible to fund tutoring).
  • Search the 50 State Afterschool Network database of state efforts which often provides information on funding opportunities and other resources for OST providers in their respective states. Check your state’s website or reach out to your state network to inquire about funding opportunities.
  • Review the Engage Every Student Initiative list of funding opportunities, as well as other resources for out-of-school time. These funding opportunities may be applicable to nonprofit organizations, school districts, and state or local government agencies.
  • Review the Wallace Foundation report, "Building, Sustaining and Improving: Using Federal Funds for Summer Learning and Afterschool", which includes a list of federal funding resources and allowable uses for OST starting on page 22.  
  • Review the National Summer Learning Association Federal Funding Guide. 
  • Apply for high-impact tutoring grants available from your state agency.
  • Partner with local higher education institutions to use Federal Work-Study funds to compensate college students who qualify to tutor.
  • Apply for grant opportunities (philanthropic, public service, research grants).
  • Apply for AmeriCorps funding to support tutors.
  • Advocate for resources from your national affiliate (if applicable).
  • See Funding Tutoring Programs to learn more.

Non-financial support opportunities include: 

  • Provide community service credits for tutoring if your program is hiring college and/or high school students who need community service hours as part of a graduation requirement