Author: Evelyn Juan
There is a certain prestige to the title of private school, and on paper, they do seem to have it all. Incredibly high average test scores, impressive college acceptance rates, elite extracurriculars that raise eyebrows, so what are we—as the general public—missing?
It’s easy to attribute the success of private schools to the costly tuition they require, simply because without those costs, is it even possible to achieve these results? What many deem a “quality” education is quantified by cost, and as Stanford Social Innovation Review puts it, “—public schools are known to be inferior because people are willing to pay for an alternative; if they had real value, we could tell because people would embrace them … just like they would have embraced the wayward greenback.” However, according to statistics, K-12 public schools spend $17,277 per pupil while the annual tuition at an average private high school is $15,344. So if public schools are spending more per student, how are private schools achieving these results?
Simply put, private school tuition is an entrance fee, and the “quality” education being displayed is actually, and more typically, a reflection of a family’s affluent background and ability to pay for advantages, rather than the work of the school alone. These are invisible investments, ranging from tutors and summer programs to college admissions consultants—investments that, unfortunately, many are unable to make. Furthermore, many of these investments rarely show up in school funding reports, and why would they? These are services independent of the school, and aside from affiliation with the student, private schools do not need to report these investments. Private schools aren’t just for education either; there is a social aspect to it, as well. Many of these institutions often act as sorting machines for the elite, allowing students to not just graduate with a diploma, but an entry into influential networks. Looking closer, the private school to Ivy League university pipeline or legacy careers can be attributed to those networks. Private school tuition isn’t simply payment for a well-rounded education; it’s also a ticket to a social class.
Even public school success can be shaped by privilege: after all, those who can afford extra help will accept those resources. Take specialized schools, for example: exam-based schools often have students who prepare in advance with test prep or application coaching to gain admission, and in these cases, merit is often manufactured. The fact that some families feel forced to spend money on tutoring to access a “good” public education is proof that the current model of public education is not a level playing field for students. Families will struggle, not because of a lack of effort, but because they’re held down by systemic disparity. This can also be seen in private schools where students attend by voucher, as well. USNews reports that, “—students using vouchers to attend private schools were somewhat less successful than those who were attending without a voucher.” If both students are attending the same institution, and the only differences pertain to socioeconomic factors, then perhaps the issue isn’t the school.
Systemic disparity on its own is already troubling enough, though, being paired with the political assault on public education makes an already frustrating situation even more troublesome. The first paragraph of BBC News summarizes the issue quite well, “One of President Donald Trump’s top aims is to dismantle the Department of Education, and in the opening days of his second term he signed an executive order to begin taking apart the agency that administers student loans for thousands of borrowsers, runs programmes to help low-income children, and oversees some funding for public schools.” Denying resources to aid those who require them keeps a large percentage of society uneducated, which only serves to widen the gap of systemic disparity. While one may argue that federal involvement has failed students, the call to weaken public education is not a solution. For many, public education is their only gateway to opportunities.
The longstanding debate over private or public institutions isn’t just about education itself; it’s about the divide that money has created in the education system. If money is time, and time is money, then families with wealth can afford both, while others are left to chase opportunities on a track tilted against them.
Works Cited
Lubienski, Christopher A., and Sarah Theule Lubienski. “The Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools.” Stanford Social Innovation Review, 9 Dec. 2013. https://doi.org/10.48558/BEKH-Y057. Accessed 30 June 2025.
Garcia, E., and Weiss, E. “Education Inequalities at the School Starting Gate: Gaps, Trends, and Strategies to Address Them.” Economic Policy Institute, 27 Sept. 2017, https://www.epi.org/publication/education-inequalities-at-the-school-starting-gate/. Accessed 30 June 2025.
Hanson, Melanie. “U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics.” EducationData.org, 8 Feb. 2025, https://educationdata.org/public-education-spending-statistics. Accessed 30 June 2025.
Hanson, Melanie. “Average Cost of Private School.” EducationData.org, 29 Aug. 2024, https://educationdata.org/average-cost-of-private-school. Accessed 30 June 2025.
Pierce, Emily, and Cole Claybourn. “Private School vs. Public School.” U.S. News & World Report, 29 Aug. 2023, www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/private-school-vs-public-school. Accessed 30 June 2025.