Saint James School, Maryland: USD 62,000 boarding, 61% on aid, and one sentence to read first

Among the American boarding schools VNIS tracks, Saint James School is one of very few charging under USD 65,000 for boarding while keeping an average class of 11 and a 6:1 student-teacher ratio. Before the money, though, there is one sentence on the school's own site that has to be read first.

The sentence to read first

On its international admissions page the school writes: "we do not have an English as a Second Language (ESL) program."

For a school with students from 30 countries that is plainly a deliberate position rather than an oversight. It means a student must be able to follow lessons in English from the first week, with nothing underneath to catch them.

If your child is still building English, this is not the right school however attractive the fee — and knowing that now saves a USD 115 application fee and several months. If your child has been taught in English and reads and writes confidently, the rest of this is worth your time.

The fee, and one unusual absence in your favour

Tuition for 2026-27 as published: boarding USD 62,000, day USD 38,000. The enrolment deposit is 10% of tuition, due with the signed enrolment agreement.

The unusual part is what is missing: there is no separate international tuition line. Of the fifteen American schools VNIS has just reviewed, nine charge international students more than domestic ones — in one case USD 13,100 more a year. Here your child pays what their American roommate pays.

Financial aid, published in rare detail

Most schools say only that aid exists. Saint James publishes four numbers:

• 61% of students receive financial aid
• More than USD 5 million awarded in 2024-2025
• An average grant of USD 30,000 for boarding students
• An average grant of USD 19,000 for day students

An average boarding grant of USD 30,000 against a USD 62,000 fee deserves serious consideration, and it is worth stressing that this is an average rather than a ceiling. The school describes aid as a reduction in tuition rather than a loan.

15 November, the deadline most families miss

Applicants whose first language is not English must complete a Vericant interview by 15 November. That falls well before the application deadlines of most American boarding schools, and it is the single date that costs Vietnamese families an entire admissions season.

Invited candidates then interview a second time, on campus or virtually, by 10 January. The English test is TOEFL or Duolingo, and the school waives it for an applicant who has attended a school taught in English for the past two years. No minimum score is published; with no ESL safety net, the transcript and the interview carry more weight rather than less.

What the school is like

Founded in 1842, Episcopal, Grades 8-12, 260 students on 800 acres — roughly 100 acres of school surrounded by 700 acres of school-owned farmland. Twenty AP courses are offered. Of 33 faculty, 74% hold advanced degrees and 95% live on campus.

That last figure is worth pausing on. At 260 students, the concentration of resident adults per student here is among the highest of any boarding school in the VNIS directory. For a family sending a child halfway around the world, that is more concrete than any assurance about pastoral care.

The school is accredited by the Association of Independent Maryland Schools and the Middle States Association, and approved by the Maryland State Board of Education.

Four questions to ask before applying

• Without ESL, what support does an international student get in the first semester — tutoring, writing help, anything scheduled?
• What TOEFL or Duolingo score does the school consider workable in practice, given that no minimum is published?
• Are international students assessed for financial aid on the same basis as domestic students, and what is the aid deadline?
• Is an award renewed at the same level in later years if family circumstances do not change?

Applying through VNIS

Saint James suits a student whose English is already strong and who wants a small school with most of its faculty living on campus, at a moderate fee. VNIS Education helps prepare transcripts, financial evidence, interview practice and the F-1 application, and puts the open questions above to the school on your behalf. Admission, the tuition rate and any award are the school's decisions.

We mark which figures the school publishes and which it does not, so that you decide on real information. Browse the full school directory.