Unlike other international schools Graz International Bilingual School (“GIBS”) is a state school that does not charge tuition fees for students. However, as a multilingual and international school striving for academic excellence while offering the Austrian Matura as well as the International Baccalaureate (“IB”) the school incurs expenses which are not always covered by government funds. Examples of these expenses include:

• Support the school financially to have language assistants as co-teachers
• Student events
• Advanced education for teachers
• Financial support for student trips abroad
• Specialized learning material for GIBS not covered by public funding guidelines
• Maintenance of an extensive, multilingual school library

The GIBS Foundation (Verein zur Förderung der GIBS) has the purpose to support the school with additional financial means to cover non-government funded operating costs, equipment and initiatives to help the school to at least maintain its high international standard. The GIBS Foundation finances itself through membership fees paid by student families as well as sponsor support.

Membership fees amount to €400,- per child per school year for the school year 2023 / 24. This will be increased to €450,- for the school year 2024/25 to counter inflation following years of stable membership fees. Our guidelines provide for a reduction of fees for families in financial need but members are strongly encouraged to seek financial help for school trips etc. via the Elternverein first (see section financial support application). Payment will be taken by direct debit in November of every school year. In order to make it as easy as possible from an administrative perspective we ask you to authorise a direct-debit mandate (Einzugsermächtigung) to VF-GIBS. Please complete the form and return it to kassier.vf@gibs.at. Alternatively, your child can hand in the form to the school office or a form teacher.

The expenses below refer to the school year 2021/22.

Non-IB expense

In line with the school’s guidelines and the association’s purpose, the largest amount goes towards paying the language assistants who help us make the GIBS such a successful bilingual school in Austria.

The second largest cost item is for events, projects and travel. Cultural events (cinema, theatre, opera), sporting events (self-defense, climbing), excursions (Vienna, Mauthausen, Flavia Solva) and much more are covered here. These costs as well as rental costs for copiers, rooms and the parents’ association fee are usually collected individually in other schools, while we try to make the administration as easy as possible for parents and teachers through the association.

The club always strives to achieve a balanced budget. However, due to the corona pandemic in recent years, events, projects and trips in particular could only be carried out to a limited extent. As a result, the club’s reserves increased significantly during this period. In order not to act contrary to the association’s non-profit tax law requirement and to ensure that all students benefit as equally as possible from these reserves, the board decided to make more equipment purchases than usual for school year 2022/23. The Foundation’s board allocated over €50.000,- to the purchase of

• Work tables, seating and means of green space design,
• Plagiarism software and
• a series of small purchases (books, licenses for online tools, small materials, etc.) for the subjects Spanish, English, IT, biology PE, Music, German and Arts/Craft

IB BUDGET

Accounts for the International Baccalaureate Program are run separately and are funded by dedicated IB fees paid separately from the membership fees. Annual fees for the IB are spent as follows:

Students in need of financial support for excursions abroad are encouraged to the Parents’ Association (Elternverein) who runs the process. You can find information on the process and documents on the website section of the Parents’ Association https://www.gibs.at/pdf/parents/GIBS_EV-Support-Antragsformular_DE.pdf

General enquiries: vf@gibs.at
Enquiries regarding fees/payments: kassier.vf@gibs.at