At Lakeside, everyone talks about identity-based diversity, considering it as a cornerstone of Lakeside culture. But when the topic switches to socioeconomic diversity, the room tends to go silent. Even Mr. Boccuzzi acknowledges that “we are more practiced at Lakeside talking about … aspects of our identities like race and gender … than we are about socioeconomic status.”
However, socioeconomic status is just as important as any other aspect of diversity, especially at a school like Lakeside.
Lakeside’s tuition is $49,350 a year, which places it among some of the most expensive schools in the Pacific Northwest. Historically, private schools in many places around the country were born out of an interest to ensure a level of separation for certain people — often white and/or wealthy people.
Mr Boccuzzi explains, “That is a history we must work to correct.”
Up until the 1970s, Lakeside, too, was incredibly homogeneous, only serving the very wealthy. With the help of endowments, Lakeside has become more accessible to everyone. The privilege of a generous financial aid department allows Lakeside admissions to be less conscious of what a family’s income is.
In admissions, the board which decides who to accept undergoes bias awareness training. Interim Director of Enrollment Management Tearon Joseph said, “Individuals who read and evaluate admissions applications, like everyone, have biases. Naming various forms of bias and naming our own helps prevent these biases from showing up in our process and in turn influences our decisions.” The goal is to view applicants through a non-biased lens, void of any discrimination, which includes socioeconomic status. Simply, as Mr. Boccuzzi puts it, the admissions department is “looking for great kids who are going to contribute to this community.”
However this problem runs deeper than a simple tuition barrier. The people who apply to and are admitted to Lakeside are of a higher socioeconomic status.
Lakeside does not disclose economic data about its applicants. However, its website still includes financial aid data. The 30% of families on partial or full financial aid have an average annual income of $192,374, and the average tuition paid is only $11,000. Even so, the families who receive financial aid already earn 50% above the Seattle median household income.
So why are students as well as applicants wealthier than average? Mr. Boccuzzi reveals that potential applicants “might believe a stereotype that independent schools are only for families with [money] because they do not know about financial aid programs like the one we have at Lakeside.”
Student Deveesh A. ’26 from Interlake High School affirms this, commenting, “I have consistently heard stereotypes that Lakeside is an institution largely for the wealthy and privileged … I would say that I don’t have an opinion that aligns with those common stereotypes … But ‘elite’ and ‘exclusive’ would probably be the first two words that come to mind when describing Lakeside.”
The stereotype of private schools being solely a place for the wealthy is a self-reinforcing cycle that locks low-income families out. The thousands of qualified young kids who could have been your best friend, the fastest runner on the cross-country team, or the next Bill Gates, will instead never set foot upon Lakeside’s campus.
This stereotype of private schools is a deeply rooted structural problem that is caused by misinformation and incorrect messaging. So to combat this problem Lakeside is increasing advertising about Lakeside’s generous financial aid to families in admissions outreach and by hosting more admissions events targeted towards low-income families. Mr. Joseph said, “[Lakeside] works directly with sending schools to connect with students and families. Our applicants and eventual students come from a large geographic area, socio-economic backgrounds, and over 250 sending schools.”
Nevertheless, this exclusion doesn’t just harm low-income families. A lot of the damage happens inside Lakeside. Director of DEIB Paul Johnson says that diversity allows for students to “bring different ideas and perspectives to the table” whether it be during discussions or socializing.
Mr Boccuzzi also notes that “Lakeside aims to prepare students for their lives ahead and to be agents of change in the world around them. If the world we create at Lakeside is representative of what people will encounter when they leave Lakeside, you’re going to need to get those people from different backgrounds in a room together. Diversity of viewpoints getting considered helps with success in all endeavors including empathy, work, and general life.”
Having a socioeconomically homogeneous student body results in homogeneous perspectives. One example that Mr. Johnson provided is in deciding what time to host a meeting. Suppose you are on the city council, and all of your meetings are at 1 p.m. on a Thursday. You want everyone to come to the meetings, but it ends up only being the wealthier people. The timing unintentionally excludes the many people who work jobs that they can’t easily leave in the middle of the day. This sort of insight only results from interaction with a diverse group of people.
The homogeneous student composition is the basis for uniquely Lakeside phenomena which seem normal within Lakeside: students traveling every break, nearly everyone electing to go to college after high school, and attending classes in buildings named after wealthy alumni.

Nevertheless, a lot of unique Lakeside benefits are amazing: the vast alumni network and GSL, to name a few. We need to respect these benefits as opportunities, not as rights.
Lakeside is a great school. But the problem is that this greatness is structurally limited to higher-income families. Lakeside has made meaningful progress since the ’80s, but much more work still remains to make sure these opportunities are accessible to all people.