ISM recently published: “The notion that tuition gradients must never again exceed inflationary projections poses, in itself, one of the greatest threats to private-independent school financial and organizational health.” Let’s unpack this comment in more detail. Some schools, fearing “unaffordability,” have begun to take a price-averse approach to tuition (i.e., artificially setting tuition flat or below inflation). Schools turn to the teachers to “pay” for this approach and maintain program. Schools freeze salaries or flatten their increases, reduce benefits, cut professional development budgets, and increase teacher workloads/class sizes. Schools know these approaches are only impactful in the short run—they are left to consider how their annual fund, endowments, and other revenue sources can help them flatten tuition. Here we demonstrate, through a simple equation, how these tactics to flatten tuition gradients are unlikely to be sustainable.