<p>I have been doing some research, and have found that 20-30 years ago, prep school expenses per student were somewhat comparable to public schools. Especially since top prep school endowments have been exploding since the 90s, like exeters going from 500M to 1B in five years. Why has the tuition also been exploding. Yearly tuition increases are way ahead of inflation. Especially this past year when our country had an inflation of 0%-1%, why have prep school tuitions been increasing at 4%,5%,6% per year, and maybe even more at some schools? It is hard to believe that tuitons have peeked at about 50K this year, and yet schools still claim to give $20K-$50K subsidies. Where is the logic in this?</p>
<p>It’s basic economics of supply and demand. A fool will take whatever a bigger fool is willing to pay. :D</p>
<p>Yes, but aren’t these schools suppose to be not for profit? Also, why are the expenses per student at these schools (different then tuiton) increasing a lot faster than inflation?</p>
<p>They are probably saving the money for financial aid. :D</p>
<p>I believe salaries and benefits are the main expenses of most schools. Prep schools have a much higher faculty/student ratio than public schools. A school needs to pay competitive salaries to retain good teachers.</p>
<p>Well the argument prepschooler is making is why these schools are making a lot of profit and sitting on hundreds of millions instead of charging a low tuition and only keep a decent surplus as non-profits.</p>
<p>@Invent: There is some validity to prepschooler’s argument just as there has been for university tuition. “Not-for-profit” simply means there are no shareholders to whom excess revenue (fees + gifts) can be distributed. The designation does NOT mean these institutions are charities. In the absence of shareholders, what would be otherwise be designated as profit simply accumulates in the endowment, or funds expanded sets of expenditure within the institution. The best way to evaluate would be to look at the budgets of an particular school over the years to see whether there has been administrative bloat (likely, particular at universities), expansion of academic programs and facilities, etc. Life at boarding school is considerably less spartan than it was years ago, facilities have improved dramatically, and financial aid opportunities have grown. There are clearly a several factors involved.</p>
<p>It’s very hard to undercut free. On the other hand, the costs of public education have skyrocketed too. It’s very hard to tease out how much public school districts spend each year, as reporting standards vary, and some costs are not reported. I.e., a private school will report their costs for liability insurance, health insurance, retirement costs, and capital spending, but for many public schools, those costs (although they exist) are paid for by another public entity, such as the town or city.</p>
<p>Invent is correct, although he is trying to provoke. The demand for elite private education outstrips the supply. It’s a tiny fraction of the population, but some fsmilies are willing to pay whatever it takes. This Wall Street Journal article provides some context:
[Private</a> School Tuition Bill Tops $40,000 - WSJ.com](<a href=“Private School Tuition Bill Tops $40,000 - WSJ”>Private School Tuition Bill Tops $40,000 - WSJ). As hard as it may be to believe, in some circles, boarding schools are not the most expensive option.</p>
<p>The New York Times ran an article about tutoring in NY private school cirlcles. One parent was willing to admit paying the equivalent of tuition for tutoring for one academic subject. (It’s jaw-dropping.)</p>
<p>Private schools do not always run surpluses. If you’re interested in the topic (rather than just wanting to vent), check out the current Charity Navigator ratings for boarding schools you’re interested in. It’s been three years since 2008, so I assume these figures reflect the crash. Many well-known schools were running a deficit at that time. In normal times, schools with large endowments offer every student a subsidy, as the cost-per-student is greater than tuition. When the endowment’s value suddenly plummets, the ratio of expenses vs. income is thrown out of whack.</p>
<p>Even the largest endowment cannot run a perpetual deficit. A million here, a million there, it adds up. To their credit, many schools stepped up to the plate, and extended financial aid to enrolled students whose families suddenly couldn’t afford tuition. That’s wonderful, but it’s not sustainable.</p>
<p>Finally, if you browse the old threads, I think you’ll get a feel for the programs this generation of parents and students consider must-haves. I don’t think a school which hadn’t updated its campus and curriculum in 30 years would be seen as a desireable school. No computers? No IT department? Mediocre food? Uncomfortable dorms, with little supervision? (The list continues.)</p>
<p>It is a common tactic for people to resort to writing long winding paragraphs when they want to mislead/confuse people. Schools with $700 million endowment running deficits or are they accounting gimmicks? Let’s get back to simple arithmetic: Public schools spend $12,000 per student, BS $50,000 per student. What are you getting at BS for paying more than 4 times the PS tuition? The BS teachers are not paid 4 times the public school teachers. So it must be accounted for by some bloated bureaucracies. Nice buildings don’t teach, good teachers do. Just the facts Madam.</p>
<p>@Invent: You need to take the cost of room/board out to make the analysis comparable. Let’s say that’s $8-10k. Once you’ve done that, you’re in the same price range as NYC private schools which cost in the upper $30s. </p>
<p>Also, public school spending doesn’t usually include the capital budget, only the operating budget, so the $12k figure isn’t correct either.</p>
<p>That said, education is one of the few areas of the economy that hasn’t really done a good job of increasing output/dollar in my opinion. If you went through the budget of a public school system, boarding school or university, you’d find room to cut the operating budget. I saw a statistic in the past few days about the California State University system. Over roughly 20 years, the number of students increased by 3%, the faculty increased roughly the same to 12,000, but the number of administrators increased 221% to over 12,000. That’s right, more administrators than faculty instead of 1:3.</p>
<p>[Overview</a> - Funding Our Schools - New York City Department of Education](<a href=“http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/funding/overview/default.htm]Overview”>http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/funding/overview/default.htm)</p>
<p>The link above shows the budget numbers for the New York City public schools. This school system currently handles 1.1mm students for a total annual cost of $23.9 billion or $21,727 per student including administrative overhead. Hopefully this puts private school tuition of $37ish in some perspective.</p>
<p>Rest of the country is NOT NYC. You need to consider the average spending per pupil across the country which is $12,000 or less.</p>
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<p>The rest of the country is not nyc, but many boarding schools are in the Northeast, which is an expensive region. </p>
<p>You’re getting small class sizes. Local public school systems have class sizes over 30 in some subjects. A class of 16 is large at boarding school. Many students can attest to very small classes, i.e., less than five, for advanced students. </p>
<p>Multiple languages. Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Russian, Japanese. Only the wealthiest schools can afford to offer all 8, but many boarding schools offer a greater choice of foreign language.</p>
<p>Weekend activities, from dances to field trips. These are expensive, as they require adult supervision. </p>
<p>The opportunity to play sports, even for those who are not star athletes. The opportunity to travel. The opportunity to meet and learn from current leaders, artists, philosophers, and thinkers, when they visit campus.</p>
<p>College counselors who know you well enough to provide guidance.</p>
<p>Everything I listed above costs money.</p>
<p>You get most of these at good public schools. I think it’s just the parents’ angst to get a leg up for their children that creates this education bubble, just like the internet bubble and the housing bubble.</p>
<p>Invent, you can name a few public schools (not exam schools), which offer the same opportunities?</p>
<p>[Top</a> Open Enrollment Public Schools](<a href=“http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-high-schools/rankings/top-open-enrollment-schools][color=green]Top”>http://education.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-high-schools/rankings/top-open-enrollment-schools)</p>
<p>Exam schools are public schools too, btw.</p>
<p>The first school on the list you linked to seems to be a tremendous high school. It doesn’t field its own sports teams, but it’s an incredible opportunity for the enrolled students. </p>
<p>Then I found this: [Board</a> Votes to Withdraw from International Academy - Farmington-Farmington Hills, MI Patch](<a href=“http://farmington-mi.patch.com/articles/board-votes-to-withdraw-from-international-academy]Board”>http://farmington-mi.patch.com/articles/board-votes-to-withdraw-from-international-academy).
</p>
<p>You know your piece of news is irrelevant to how many great public schools are out there. All you need to do is make the best use of them. 60% of Harvard matriculants are from public schools and the list is growing. This is the same school that used to cater to the rich and the priveleged. Times have changed, so should your opinions.</p>
<p>@Peri: A major reason why the applicant pool to BS is growing so rapidly is precisely because the value proposition at public schools which don’t charge is becoming less appealing against alternatives that require out of pocket expenditures. This really speaks for itself. </p>
<p>@Invent: Compare private alternatives and their prices to fully loaded local school expenditure (including administrative overhead, capital budgets, and state deficits due to teacher pensions). There’s a reason that home schooling is booming (up 74% in the past decade), new private and charter schools are starting, and that more kids and their parents find it worthwhile to pay for alternatives whether BS or other. Also, your point about Harvard admissions being 60% from public school ignores basic statistics and a key point. First, only 10% of the nation’s high school grads attend private school <a href=“Home - Council for American Private Education”>Home - Council for American Private Education, so private school grads are massively over-represented. Secondly, acceptance of public school grads reflects an estimate of their individual potential, not an endorsement of their secondary school education.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say BS applicant pool is raising rapidly. Except for a handful of schools, many boarding/private schools are struggling to fill the spots at 50K a pop in this economy. Haven’t you seen a list of BS with open spots for 2011 circulated on CC lately?</p>