EMA & ERB continue to progress on our path to merge. Read more.

Paying for Independent School: Insights from the 2023 NAIS Financial Aid Parent Survey [S4:E8]

Christina Dotchin
September 11, 2025

​In this episode, we sit down with Mark Mitchell, Vice President of Access and Affordability at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and Amada Torres, Vice President for Studies, Insights, and Research at NAIS. Together, Amada and Mark bring deep expertise on various factors influencing independent schools today, and they are both authors of How Parents Pay School Costs: 2023 NAIS Financial Aid Parent Survey.

This episode is part of a mini-series inspired by EMA's latest research report, An Independent School Education: Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability. Guest co-host Ari Betof, Co-Founder and Partner at Mission & Data, will join me throughout this mini-series.

While the survey populations and methodologies differ, together, the EMA and NAIS reports offer a more comprehensive view than either does alone.

EMA members can access the full report, An Independent School Education: Family Perceptions of Value and Affordability, and dig deeper into the results on the accompanying data dashboard by logging into EMA's Community: community.enrollment.org.

EMA Members can view the full report in our Member Community.

Become a member to gain access to our full magazine
and more professional development tools.

Subscribe to learn more about EMA and our services.

Christina Dotchin
September 11, 2025

Christina Dotchin is the Vice President of Member Relations at the Enrollment Management Association (EMA). Christina oversees EMA's membership, business development, professional development, and marketing teams. This includes programs for over 1,200 independent schools and over 20,000 members. Before joining EMA in 2016, Christina served as the director of admission and financial aid at Proctor Academy (New Hampshire). During her 11 years at Proctor Academy, she also served as girls’ varsity ice hockey head coach, student advisor, and dorm parent. Christina holds a B.A. in English, with a minor in education, from Colby College and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of New Hampshire.

Ready to make EMA part of your enrollment toolkit?

Subscribe to learn more about EMA and our services.