I don't know much about tuition or anything else for this project. What I do know is that when he first came out with the idea he said he wanted to do it because people in his school were to distracted. The didn't train with all their heart and many would train for a short time and then disappear. He wanted to take a group of dedicated students away from all distractions and teach them deep level kung fu.

The problem with this is that if he had spent more time in his own school teaching class himself instead of running around the world teaching seminars to be famous and make money and leaving his school run by students who all taught the same forms,drills, and techniques different from each other and him, he could have had plenty of long term dedicated students. I spent a few years in his school and I respect his knowledge and abilities but he definitely views kung fu as a money making venture.

If the tuition thing is right I can partially understand it. He did something similar with his sparring class. You paid x amount up front for each session. you earned back $10 for each class you attended but forfeited $20 for each class you missed. If you missed x amount you lost the money and got kicked out of the sparring class. it was done mostly to entice dedication and most people completed each session without losing much of their money. On a large project like this I can see him doing something similar with a more substantial input. If somebody drops out after two or three years then he's wasted a spot in his group and wasted his time teaching that individual. So there is nothing wrong with ensuring a lot of dedication. The problem is if the amounts listed above are correct then the only people who can afford it are the rich and if they need to be under 21 then that leaves a bunch of spoiled rich kids. The people who have the ability to do this may not care about losing that money when they get tired of this. Also Dr. Yang has always emphasized the fighting aspects of his martial arts and who really believes that spoiled rich kids are going to make the best fighters or instructors of fighting arts? He would do much better dedicating himself to his own school and his students there.