Price Comparison Chart
Melbourne - Suntree - Viera - Beaches - Palm Bay
area tutoring services
The results of this study will be used to 1) help parents choose the best for their children; and 2) help the Tutor
Advantage to best meet the needs of our community.

Considerations:

    Some high-end learning centers group students together based on scheduling needs, keeping student skills
    independent of grouping.  They actually use this to demonstrate that each student is working individually and
    at their own pace and skill level.  This is a good thing - we want our children's needs to be met on an
    individual basis.  This, however, amounts to very little one-on-one instruction from the tutor.  These centers
    charge as much (or more) than those offering strictly 1:1 teaching.**

    Some high-end learning centers do not charge a fee for materials, but this is sometimes because they use
    the student's school books and materials for the tutoring sessions.  This is a viable option for students
    requiring minimal assistance in specific subject areas - but this is not enough for students needed to improve
    their basic learning skills and strengthen their cognitive abilities.  It is not enough for the student struggling
    with reading comprehension because of a phonological or visual weakness.  It is not enough for the student
    struggling with mathematics because he is missing a basic foundation in arithmetic knowledge and/or problem
    solving skills.

    Some high-end learning centers do not have a registration fee, per-say - but their testing is required,
    therefore it is really a registration fee.

    Some high-end learning centers have contracts for x# of classes and/or x# of weeks.  Depending on the
    program this is a necessary requirement.  Most of the time these fees can be paid on a weekly basis.

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**Because we use homogeneous skill grouping, our quality of instruction will approach that of any one-on-one or
two-on-one tutoring program.  See our
Small Group Option page for more details about teacher - student ratios.

***The Tutor Advantage offers options to parents!  You can choose 1:1 and pay less for this individualized
instruction than what the most popular centers charge for 1:3 or 1:4.  Or - you can choose our Small Group Option
and pay even less.  Finally, you may enroll in one of our classes for the lowest per hour rate, while still receiving 1:6
(or less) instruction at your child's individual learning level!


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How do we do this without sacrificing quality?

You might think that we'd have to sacrifice the quality of instruction in order to get our price this low - but we don't!
Our teachers are highly qualified, highly trained, and as far as we know better paid than teachers at competing
firms. So how do we do it? With a business model that's entirely different from those of our competitors:

We use a curriculum that allows us to group all our students efficiently. Children in our typical class of five can learn
almost as easily and as quickly as children engaged in one-on-one tutoring - and in some cases even better,
because of the quality of the curriculum. So we have more students sharing the expense of one teacher, but without
the decline in instructional quality that you might expect from larger classes.

Our tutors have the advantage of working with a non-profit organization and using their school for our tutoring and
small classes.  This keeps our expenses much lower than franchises and national chains.

We rely on extremely efficient promotional methods rather than buying expensive TV and radio ad time. Like  
referral and multi-child incentives, for example.  (Ask us about these!)

We believe that word-of-mouth will be our best form of advertising.  Therefore, we concentrate on each child's
success, knowing that the successful student or client is our best marketing tool.
  Learning
Center Co.
T
Learning
Center Co.
H
Learning
Center Co.
S
Learning
Center Co.
K
Learning
Clinic B
Learning
Clinic I
Private
Tutor A
The Tutor
Advantage
Registratio
n Fee
see testing
fee
see testing
fee
          $0
Testing
Fee
$125
$175
          $0*
Material
Fee
$0
$0
          $0*
Hours per
week
2
3
3+
        1 - 3
Cost per
hour
$36
$42
$45
      $35
$20 - $35
Teacher to
student
ratio
1:1
1:4
1:3+
1:3
1:1
1:1
1:1
1:1 - 1:3
This project is in progress.  The study is incomplete.  Check back for updates.