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In What is AP?, we looked at the organization that has created one of the world's most popular college prep programs. This companion article will look at the other college preparatory program known as IB. The organization behind the IB program, the , was founded in 1968. With its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IB Organization serves over 1.3 million students in 147 countries.

What is the IB?

Most people think of the IB or International Baccalaureate as the organization which sponsors the highly-regarded college preparatory IB Diploma Programme. Indeed the IB Diploma is where it all started. The IB Diploma is the college preparatory component of a curriculum that begins early childhood and ends with pre-college and pre-career programs.

The International Baccalaureate Organization has grown into four programs: Primary Years, Middle Years, Diploma, and IB Career-related Programmes. This, then, is one of the major differences with Advanced Placement. Practically speaking, Advanced Placement encompasses only the college preparatory years in the academic continuum, although it now offers a Pre-AP designed to encourage students. The IB Organization offers programs that begin with 3-year-olds and end with college preparatory and career-related diplomas.

The IB Diploma Programme

Since you are interested in finding out the similarities and differences between the two top college prep academic programs, let's look under the hood of the IB Diploma Programme and find out what's involved. Essentially the

Will The School Give Me A Refund If My Child Withdraws Early?

You have just paid $45,000 for a year's tuition and fees at St. Sedgewick's.

• You are all set, right? Not exactly.
• What happens if your child suddenly becomes sick before the end of the school year?
• What if circumstances beyond your control force you to withdraw her from school in March?
• What if he is expelled? In brief, you are obligated to pay the entire year's tuition and fees regardless of whether your child completes the year or not.

What Are My Options?

The only remedy you have is to sign up for the school's refund plan.

• It typically acts like insurance in the event that your child withdraws before the end of the year.
• The insurance plan will pay for the unused/remaining portion of your child's time at the school.
• You contracted to pay for an entire year when you signed the contract with the school at the time she was accepted.

You do not want to be out of pocket. Neither does the school.

• This is why tuition refund insurance is an important part of your planning for a private school education.
• Tuition refund policies are in place at every private school, regardless of whether it is day or boarding, large or small, elementary/nursery school, or high school.

St. Mary's School in Raleigh, North Carolina, has a policy that is the sort of

A private school education is not cheap. It is a substantial financial sacrifice for many families. So why do parents willingly pay $30,000, $40,000 or more for something which public education provides free? Here are five reasons why you would do so.

1. Public education is not free.

We often forget that public schools are not free. You and I pay for public schools directly and indirectly through our property and other taxes. Public school facilities and properties are not taxable. As a result, they reduce the tax rolls of the municipality in which they are located. Attend a budget hearing for your local school district. Examine the financial statements. Then you will understand how and where your tax dollars are spent.

What kind of education are your public schools providing? Do the public schools offer the depth and breadth of academic programs you want and need for your child? What about sports programs and extracurricular activities? Have these been cut or substantially reduced because of budget cuts? Peter Green spells out what budget cuts can do to an arts program in his article . It is pretty much the same story with any program which is deemed an extra in public education.

²ÝÁñÉçÇø education is an investment in your child's future. You educate your child privately because you want something better for your child. ²ÝÁñÉçÇø schools do not cut sports, arts and extracurricular funding as a rule.

²ÝÁñÉçÇø School May Be Free If You Make Less Than $100,000

Over the past two decades, private schools have developed very generous financial aid programs.

• This has happened for a variety of reasons.
• But the most compelling reason is that private schools want to diversify their student bodies.
• They want to attract academically well-qualified applicants whose families cannot afford the enormous expense of sending their children to private schools.

Generous financial aid programs are one way of helping schools achieve that goal.

Here's how Exeter the very generous financial aid it does:

"Socioeconomic diversity has been a characteristic of Phillips Exeter Academy from our founding. It's built into our ethic—to attract and teach 'youth from every quarter'—and it's crucial to the nature of our community and our classrooms."

St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire, to financial aid as follows:

"We are committed to making St. Paul’s an affordable option for families."

To honor this commitment, we will:

"Consider a household income of $80,000 per year or less as qualifying for full financial aid. Families with an annual income of less than $200,000 will not pay more than 10% of their income toward tuition per year."

Deerfield Academy xplains its financial aid as follows:

“Deerfield’s commitment to affordability and access in the form of need-based financial aid is historic, deep, and central to its educational