Field Reference

This is the reference companion to the Complete Walkthrough. Every input field in Class Price Calculator is listed below, organized by section in the order they appear in the tool. For each field you'll find the label as it appears on screen, what it controls, valid ranges, the default value, and any tips worth knowing.

If you're looking for a conceptual explanation of how these fields work together, start with the Quick Start or the Complete Walkthrough. This page is for when you need a quick answer to "What does this field do?" or "What's the valid range?"

Class Information

The identity section at the top of the calculator. These three fields define what the class is and how long it runs.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Class Name	Identifies the class. Required for any calculation to run. Also used as the label when saving to class history.	Any text	(empty)	This is the only required field in the entire tool. Nothing calculates until you type something here. It does not need to match your catalog listing.
Number of Sessions	How many times the class meets. Multiplied by Hours per Session and the instructor hourly rate to calculate instructor costs.	1 to 100	4	For a single workshop, enter 1. For a semester-long course meeting weekly for 16 weeks, enter 16.
Hours per Session	Duration of each class meeting. Include setup and cleanup time if your instructor is paid for it.	0.5 to 24, step 0.5	2	A 2-hour class with 30 minutes of setup and 30 minutes of cleanup is 3 hours of paid time. Enter 3, not 2.

Enrollment & Overhead

Capacity planning. These fields define the enrollment range for scenario generation and the facility cost allocation.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Min Students	The smallest class you'd run without canceling. Defines the low end of the enrollment scenarios table.	1+	8	Must be less than or equal to Max Students. The break-even stat pill turns green when break-even is at or below this number.
Expected Students	Your best realistic estimate. The calculator uses this number to set the recommended per-student price. Highlighted in the scenarios table.	1+	8	Automatically clamped between Min and Max. If you set min to 6 and max to 12, expected will stay within that range.
Max Students	Hard enrollment cap (studio size, fire code, equipment count). Defines the high end of the scenarios table.	1+	15	Must be greater than or equal to Min Students.
Facility OH %	Facility overhead as a percentage of total buffered direct costs. Covers rent, utilities, insurance, cleaning, and shared infrastructure.	0 to 100	15	Applied after buffers. A common range for community arts organizations is 10-20%. Set to 0 if your venue is free or donated.

Direct Costs

The expenses required to deliver this specific class. Two fields have mode toggles that change how the entered value is interpreted.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Instructor (toggle: Hourly Rate / Flat Rate)	In Hourly mode, the per-hour rate. The tool calculates total instructor cost as: rate × sessions × hours per session. In Flat mode, the total instructor cost for the entire class series.	0+	101.25 (Hourly)	The mode toggle changes the placeholder text to remind you what to enter. Flat rate is useful for guest instructors with a fixed fee.
Materials (toggle: Total / Per Student)	In Total mode, the fixed materials cost for the class regardless of enrollment. In Per Student mode, the cost per participant, multiplied by expected enrollment.	0+	120 (Total)	Per-student materials cause total costs to rise with enrollment in the scenarios table. Total (fixed) materials stay flat.
Coordinator Hours	Estimated hours for administrative work: registration, emails, supply ordering, schedule coordination.	0+	3	Even if you do your own admin, account for this time. Pricing as if your labor is free leads to unsustainable classes.
Coordinator Rate ($)	Hourly rate for coordinator time. Multiplied by Coordinator Hours to get total coordinator cost.	0+	75	Use your organization's actual staff rate or a reasonable market rate for the role.
Other Direct Costs ($)	Any additional expenses specific to this class that don't fit the categories above. Entered as a flat dollar amount.	0+	225	Examples from the tool: live model fees, specialty supplies. Leave at 0 if there are no extra costs.

Risk Buffers

Contingency percentages added to each cost category to account for overruns, substitutes, and price changes. The preset selector fills all five fields at once.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Buffer Preset (selector)	Fills all five buffer fields with a coordinated set of values. Four options: Fixed (0%), Lean (15/10%), Moderate (25/15%), Robust (35/20%).	Fixed / Lean / Moderate / Robust / Custom	Moderate	Editing any individual buffer field after selecting a preset switches the label to "Custom." Click a preset button again to reset.
Instructor Buffer %	Percentage added to instructor costs. Covers substitute teacher rates, unexpected prep hours, rate increases.	0 to 500	25	Typical: 20-40%. Use the low end for reliable instructors on contract, the high end for new hires or freelancers.
Materials Buffer %	Percentage added to materials costs. Covers supply price fluctuations and waste.	0 to 500	15	Typical: 10-20%. Use 0% when materials are a fixed pass-through (students buy their own supplies).
Coordinator Buffer %	Percentage added to coordinator costs. Covers extra admin time for waitlist management, refunds, and schedule changes.	0 to 500	20	Typical: 15-30%. Classes with complex registration (multiple sections, prerequisites) need more buffer.
Other Costs Buffer %	Percentage added to other direct costs. Covers miscellaneous overruns.	0 to 500	10	Use 0% for pass-through costs that are contractually fixed.
Overhead Buffer %	Percentage added to facility overhead costs. Rarely needed because overhead is already a percentage estimate.	0 to 500	0	Defaults to 0% in every preset. Only increase if your venue costs are genuinely volatile (month-to-month sublease, variable utility rates).

All four presets set the overhead buffer to 0%. This is intentional. Facility overhead is already a percentage-based approximation, so adding a buffer on top of it usually overstates the contingency.

Target Gross Margin

The profitability target that determines the final per-student price.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Target Gross Margin %	The percentage of revenue retained as surplus after all costs. Used in the formula: Price = Total Costs ÷ (1 − Margin%). A 15% margin on $850 of costs yields a $1,000 revenue target.	0 to 99	15	Typical range for community arts: 10-20%. At 0%, the price exactly covers costs with no surplus. Values above 50% produce prices most community programs would find hard to justify.

Tiered Pricing

Optional sliding-scale pricing. When enabled, the calculator generates Supported (discounted), Standard (base), and Supporter (premium) price points, along with sustainability and predicted distribution analyses.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Enable Tiered Pricing (toggle)	Turns the three-tier pricing model on or off. When off, a single flat price is calculated. When on, reveals all tier-related fields, the sustainability analysis, predicted distribution, tier framing language, and the blended revenue line on the chart.	On / Off	Off	You can toggle this on and off without losing your tier settings. The values persist even when the section is collapsed.
Supported Discount %	Percentage discount off the standard price for the Supported tier. A 15% discount on a $200 standard price produces a $170 supported price.	0 to 100	15	Higher discounts increase accessibility but reduce sustainability. The break-even floor warning will appear if the supported price drops below cost per student at minimum enrollment.
Supporter Premium %	Percentage premium above the standard price for the Supporter tier. A 20% premium on a $200 standard price produces a $240 supporter price.	0 to 100	20	Set to 0% for a two-tier model (Supported and Standard only). The tier framing language auto-detects this and generates copy for two tiers instead of three.
% Supported (predicted)	Predicted percentage of students who will choose the Supported tier. Used in the Predicted Tier Distribution table and the blended revenue line on the chart.	0 to 100	25	The three predicted percentages must sum to 100%. Based on Panera Cares, Magnatune, and ProfitWell research. Replace with your own data once you have 3+ completed classes.
% Standard (predicted)	Predicted percentage of students who will choose the Standard tier.	0 to 100	65	In most pay-what-you-can models, the majority of participants pay the middle option. 60-70% is a well-documented range.
% Supporter (predicted)	Predicted percentage of students who will choose the Supporter tier.	0 to 100	10	Supporter uptake is typically the smallest tier. 5-15% is common in published case studies. If your supporter premium is 0%, set this to 0% as well.

Tier Language

A single optional field that overrides the base price used in the generated tier framing language.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Base price (override)	When filled in, replaces the calculated standard price in all three tier language cards (Warm, Impact, Minimal). The generated copy uses this number instead of the computed price. The calculated price is shown in parentheses for reference.	0+	(empty, uses calculated price)	Use this to round your price for marketing. If the calculator says $187.50, enter $190 here and the tier language will use $190 as the base for all three styles.

Reverse Calculator

The Reverse Calculator section in the results panel has its own set of input fields for "what-if" analysis at a specific price point.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Target Price per Student	The per-student price you want to test. The reverse calculator shows profitability at this price across a range of enrollment levels.	Any number	(empty)	Use this to benchmark against competitors or test a price you have in mind. Enter the price and click "Analyze Target Price."
Min Students (reverse)	The low end of the enrollment range for reverse analysis. Independent of the main Min Students field.	1+	5	Can be different from your main enrollment range. Useful for exploring wider "what-if" scenarios.
Max Students (reverse)	The high end of the enrollment range for reverse analysis. Independent of the main Max Students field.	1+	10	Must be greater than or equal to the reverse Min Students.

Class History

The Save to History prompt has one input field. The actuals form (accessed via the Class History panel) has additional fields for recording what actually happened.

Field	What It Controls	Range	Default	Tips
Term	A label for when this class runs. Saved alongside the pricing snapshot in your class history.	Any text	(empty)	Examples: "Summer 2026," "Fall Session A," "March Workshop." Helps you identify records later.
Total Enrolled (actuals)	The number of students who actually registered and paid.	0+	(empty)	This is the actual count, not your prediction. Used in the planned vs. actual comparison.
Supported Count (actuals)	Number of students who paid the Supported (discounted) price.	0+	(empty)	Supported + Standard + Supporter must equal Total Enrolled. The form validates this sum.
Standard Count (actuals)	Number of students who paid the Standard (base) price.	0+	(empty)	If you didn't offer tiered pricing, enter the full enrollment here and set the other counts to 0.
Supporter Count (actuals)	Number of students who paid the Supporter (premium) price.	0+	(empty)	Enter 0 if you didn't offer a supporter tier. The hint text says "0 if not offered yet."
Total Revenue ($) (actuals)	The actual total revenue collected for this class from all students.	0+	(empty)	Enter the real number from your books, not a calculation. The comparison view will show the delta against your predicted revenue.
Notes (actuals)	Optional free-text field for recording context about how the class went.	Any text	(empty)	Examples: "Strong enrollment, more supported than expected" or "Three last-minute cancellations." Helpful for future reference when reviewing history.