The first question you probably have about Collegiate Comets is, how do we fund our organization? We formally employ our instructors, given them reasonable pay and benefits, and yet we offer free and low-cost education to our community. How do we manage to carry out both of these goal at the same time?
Much of our funding comes from grants. We estimate the number of work-hours of our employees, as well as other expenses, to determine our operating costs. The grants we generously receive from various organizations is then used as the primary source of funding. Once we find the difference between our grants for the year and our projected expenses, we then set the cost of our classes and tutoring to make up the difference. We also keep a small rainy-day fund, so that we can cover unexpected costs without immediately raising prices.
Despite what you read above, we want to make sure you understand one thing first and foremost: our rocketry program will always be free of charge. While we wish to provide a rigorous and inexpensive education to all, the fundamental point of the Collegiate Comets is to do so for rocketry in particular. If we ever charge for our rocketry program, we will have failed.