Ok, Here's a somewhat weird question but I do need your collective knowledge and experience, please.

Let's say I charge yearly for 40 lessons per year and I bill monthly. Makes sense, people understand it, everything is ok. I charge that from September to June (year is weird in Greece I know... :P).

Should I charge the same amount for a late starter? One who started, say in... November? Or October? My take is that I shouldn't. To keep things simple I should deduce the 1 monthly installment and let him pay 9, instead of 10.

What happens, though, if for the 9 month course, he'll end up with a degree he can use to teach? Is it the lessons he's buying, or the degree after all and he should be there earlier, regarldess?

I hope this is clear, cause I AM having a bit of a situation.

My tuition schedule runs similar to yours (monthly payments Sep - June). Some months have 4 lessons, some have 5, some have 3.

For those who begin lessons after everyone else has (say Oct or Nov), I include a statement in my studio policy that reads: "Tuition will not be pro-rated for those enrolling in lessons after September."

However, in my case, I have two major enrollment times: September and January. My returning students and new students will begin in September; then a new crop of new students begins in January (with a different studio policy specific to them).

Perhaps others can describe their policy.

New students who begin mid-semester DO pay only for the portion of the semester that remains. My students have the option of taking the summer off. Those who return in the fall must begin when I do. If they want to return later than that, they must pay for the full semester.

Unless you charge a yearly fee (not monthly) I would pro-rate the lessons to their particular start-date. If you have a yearly tuition not based on the number of weekly lessons then I think they would expect to pay that rate. However, if they are charged monthly then they shouldn't be playing for months that they weren't with you. The other option would be to not accept new registrations until the half-way point in the year - that way you wouldn't have to worry about them obtaining almost a full year's worth of traning for a lesser cost. Maybe start a January waiting list and not start students until that point? However, it seems odd to not accept the additional income that the registrations in October and November would provide until January.