What to Charge Your Students

This is a very personal matter, and completely up to the teacher. Some teach on a voluntary level, while others make very good money.  It will depend on where you are teaching and what the average family income is in your area. Since my fees are forever changing and increasing, and each class is different, you can view my charges by looking on my studio’s website, but remember, it took me 5 years to figure out what was the best rate for my school’s location.  I will have to say; figuring out my fee was the hardest thing of all for me to do when I first set up my school. In fact, I still have a hard time figuring what fee is right.  Sometimes I feel I am on the lower end, and other times I feel like I am charging too much.  There should be three to four students per class, per instructor.  Classes should run 1 hour and 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.  I have found that the 1 hour classes are just too short.  Students were getting frustrated and not completing much work.  In my school, 1½ and 2 hour classes work best. My workshops run for 3 to 4 hours.



When figuring out what you would like your pay to be, keep in mind your expenses like: -overhead or rent, gas and electric, supplies, patterns, paper work, time, helpers, awards, t-shirts, etc… If you go to my studio website, www.lovetosew.com and check out my fees keep in mind that this is what I charge to help pay for supplies,  an additional instructor,  and for the project or class and how many hours of teaching that particular class requires. Also take into consideration where your studio is located. If my studio was just 30 minutes south of where I am located now, I would be in a super high competitive area surrounded by quilt shops, craft shops, fabric stores, and other sewing studios, so I would have to adjust my prices accordingly.