Private Education in the US

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/06/america-elite-schools-leadership-prep.html

Abigail Jones writes, “Reputation matters, and for many of the children of America's elite where you go to prep schools is just as important, if not more, than where you go to college.” After reading Anisha Lakhani’s Schooled, I was interested in researching what private education looks like today. Although Lakhani’s school is a public school in Manhattan, it obviously has the amenities only private schools elsewhere in the country would have.

For the top 25 elite private schools in the US, most tuition for boarding students is over $40,000. While the tuition at Colby is more per year, it is important to remember that these schools provide only a high school education. Moreover, the endowments of these schools are well over $150 million, which rivals most small colleges. They boast notable alums from John F. Kennedy and George H. W. Bush to Ivanka Trump and Vera Wang. These schools have 9-hole golf courses and some of the largest libraries in the world.

However, they also have their dark sides (sides that I find slightly more interesting). In 1984, 13 students at Choate Rosemary Hall were expelled for attempting to smuggle $300,000 worth of cocaine from Venezuela. At Phillips Exeter, a teacher was arrested after being found with over 700 child pornography videotapes.

Although American private education is clearly flawed, I think it also provides students with an exceptional opportunity to excel and learn. Many issues that are rampant at private schools are also visible at public schools.

I also wonder if the name of the high school I went to really matter that much. Does that fact that I went to a public school with a very reputable school system discourage colleges from accepting me? I think to some degree it does. However, as Jones' states, it is far more important what college diploma is hanging in your office.