It's helpful to look at old subscription prices when trying to set new subscription prices. To contextualize them, it's also useful to know the price scheme used for individual nights:
- Until the summer of 2007: $2 for students, $3.50 for non-students
- Summer 2007 - Spring 2014: $2 for students, increased to $4 to include early rounds for others
- Circa 2012 or so: MIT students became free
- Summer 2014 - Spring 2023: free for MIT students, $2 for students and $5 for non-students.
- Summer 2023 - ??: free for MIT students, $2 for students, $5-10 for non-students
Starting in Fall 2015, we started using a sliding-scale subscription model. We also changed subscriptions to include Saturday dances. With the sliding-scale subscription price, the higher end of the price was typically set so that it represented a very small (or even negative) discount on paying single prices for all dances, so in essence, people paying the higher price were giving a donation to the club. Nevertheless, people seemed happy to do that, and the sliding-scale model appeared to be a success. However, some people didn't realize that the high end wasn't a discount and were a little frustrated by that, so it's best to be clear about at least the number of Tuesday and Saturday dances covered by the subscription period ("covers 19 Tuesday and one Saturday dance") when advertising the subscription range.
Prices should be loaded into SquaresDB when set.
Class members get their first class free, so to be sure there's a financial incentive for class members to buy a subscription, the subscription period starts the second week of class and finishes the last week of class. This exactly determines the dates of all of the subscription periods. The dates for class are determined by the PE calendar which is related to the academic calendar. Tech Squares has a handy projected dates spreadsheet. (Note: As of 2022, class members now pay a separate "class fee" rather than buying a subscription and checking in at gate — therefore, possibly we should just realign subscription periods with the start of class.)
We don't dance when MIT is closed, and prices need to reflect that. MIT is closed:
- 4th of July
- Christmas Eve/Day
- New Year's Eve/Day
Students rates should also reflect a discount for weeks when they are likely to be out of town or not dancing, for example:
- During finals (fall and spring)
- Winter break (between finals and IAP)
- Spring break
Starting in fall 2011, MIT students (grad and undergrad) get in for free. That way PE students finishing the class wouldn't have to suddenly pay money, and MIT club members wouldn't be tempted to sign up for the PE class but attend infrequently, just to get in free when they do pay. And the hope was also to further encourage student participation.
Non-MIT college students, children younger than college age, and non-students in financial need who ask for it, all get the student rate.