New Yorkers brace for $40,000 a year tuition? $40,000, $shmorty thousand dollars.
I recently had a client mom who said that she wished NYC private school tuition were $100,000 a year, so it would reduce her daughter’s competitive field.
Her remark encapsulates the situation we’re in: Dalton, Trinity, Collegiate, Brearley, Spence–all the very top schools–can charge whatever they want: plenty of wealthy families will be glad, indeed grateful, to pay it.
With all the talk recently about the 1%, the very top of the 1% wants Manhattan, Brooklyn and Riverdale’s top tier private schools, and they can afford them.
So why wouldn’t these top tier private schools pay more to attract and retain the best teachers, build the most modern, dazzling facilities, and offer their students the most exciting, enriching experiences? Of course that’s what they are going to do, while raising tuition to pay for all of it.
Meanwhile, in this same era of a struggling 99% and a government bureaucracy that is increasing standardized tests and test prep while cutting funding for programs and positions, top public schools are fighting to retain inspiring, motivated teachers and breadth and depth of competitive offerings.
This is a good situation for private school educational consultants but a very bad situation for society.