Pick Your Own Price for Summer Camp

But the catch is that the lowest of the three rates ($978 for two weeks) is about what the camps cost last year ($990). So what the Y.M.C.A. is really offering is a chance for some families to pay more ($1,378 or $1,178).

Jack Lund, chief executive of the Y.M.C.A. of Greater New York, acknowledged that the so-called “honor code” tuition system is essentially a way of asking wealthier families to subsidize poor and middle-income campers in tough economic times.