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NYC Private School Tuition Breaks $70,000 Milestone for Fall (msn.com) 52

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
The top private schools in New York City plan to charge more than $70,000 this year for tuition, an amount exceeding that of many elite colleges, as they pass on the costs of soaring expenses including teacher salaries. From a report: Spence School, Dalton School and Nightingale-Bamford School on Manhattan's Upper East Side are among at least seven schools where the fees now exceed that threshold, according to school disclosures and Bloomberg reporting

Fees among 15 private schools across the city rose a median of 4.7%, outpacing inflation. Sending a kid to New York private school has always been expensive, but the cost now is so high that even those with well-above-average salaries are feeling squeezed. Prices have risen dramatically in the past decade, up from a median of $39,900 in 2014.
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NYC Private School Tuition Breaks $70,000 Milestone for Fall More

NYC Private School Tuition Breaks $70,000 Milestone for Fall

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  • if you have more than 1 kid (Score:5, Funny)

    by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @10:13AM (#65979946) Homepage Journal

    Time to decide who is going to be the lawyer or surgeon, who is going to be a nurse or paralegal, and who is going to support the other two with an OnlyFans account.

    • I was one of three kids and became the shoe salesman.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        I was one of three kids and became the shoe salesman.

        ..who scored four touchdowns in a single game at Polk High.

        Sure, ol Billy "Does Goats" Gates went down in humiliation that day and kinda went on to do his own thing, but at least you can visit private islands without question.

    • Well, if you are not mega-wealthy you might consider moving to a city/state in the US where cost of living is actually reasonable and life is actually comfortable and pleasant with nice neighbors.

      For the life of me, unless one is extremely rich I cannot imagine why anyone, especially a family with kids would want to live in NYC.

      If you're rich and young ok maybe it's a blast to live and party there, but for real life? Nah.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        Speaking for myself it would be my ideal location to live if it wasn't so expensive and I didn't have a good job that I'm not interested in leaving where I live. Of course there's a reason it's so expensive, it's a popular place to live.

      • Re:if you have more than 1 kid (Score:4, Insightful)

        by alexgieg ( 948359 ) <alexgieg@gmail.com> on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @04:21PM (#65980890)

        If you're rich and young ok maybe it's a blast to live and party there, but for real life? Nah.

        Well, the idea behind these ultra-expensive schools is to have one's kids become childhood friends with the children of billionaires, and then continue that friendship in ultra-expensive universities, so that all that investment pays off in the form of one's kids becoming billionaires themselves, or at the very least members of the inner circle of billionaires. That is, one isn't paying for good education, but for good networking. So viewing these $70k/year as anything other than a financial investment is a serious judgment error.

        And yes, that's valid for poor folk who end up admitted into ultra-expensive universities. They entire purpose of those is networking. Going to parties with billionaire teen friends and getting a far from perfect GPA pays off orders of magnitude more than not going to those parties and getting a perfect GPA, with the sole exception of those who want to follow an academic career, in which case, sure, focus on the GPA. Otherwise, focus on making rich friends. Those are the ones who get you high-paying jobs.

        Also, yes, I'm being sarcastic. That doesn't mean this isn't true. It shouldn't be like this. Alas, it is.

      • If you're rich and young ok maybe it's a blast to live and party there, but for real life? Nah.

        I'm willing to accept that people have different tastes than me. I live out in the woods on the West Coast away from too many people. But my wife and I briefly flirted with living near family in a very busy town (Long Island), and while I was there I felt like I was going insane or on drugs or needed drugs. Very poor cultural fit for me.

        I think people have different values and priorities. And perhaps put different weights on some of the same values. Like living near family is high on the list for most peopl

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Ogive17 ( 691899 )
        You realize NYC isn't just high-rise apartments, right? There are plenty of single family neighborhoods. Yeah, definitely cost more to live there but wages are typically higher as well. I have multiple friends with kids that live in the city (one in an apartment, one in a single family home) and they both love it. The opportunities they have at their fingertips is far greater than other areas. When I visited a few years ago, I was also surprised by the amount of parks/green space actually available.

        I

  • I'm sure the shareholders will be alright.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by garcia ( 6573 )

      The Brearley School, regarded as the best private school for girls in the nation and charging around $70K, is a non-profit.

      What shareholders?

      • The Brearley School, regarded as the best private school for girls in the nation and charging around $70K, is a non-profit.

        What shareholders?

        * yanks Global Non-Profit Pamphlet out of your hand *

        (The American Litigation Complex) "Shit, sorry, not sure how that didn't get burned."

        * hands you pamphlet *

        (The American Litigation Complex) "Allow me to introduce you to the new Profit Center for Profiteering Pioneers, a non-profit-for-profit organization we recognize as a religion only in the State of Delaware, with donations organically washed through the finest Irish tax havens and hung out to dry with our most prominent taxpayers.."

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by unami ( 1042872 )
        I don't know about NY-salaries, but including school holidays, 70k a year should get me a private teacher per pupil, right?
        • That will fly in the Southern US. It's right around average for my city actually. However, 70k is poverty wages in NYC.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by garcia ( 6573 )

            https://livingwage.mit.edu/met... [mit.edu]

            Typical annual salary, according to MIT's Living Wage Calculator for the NYC Metro, is $84,860.

            Poverty wage is $7.52/hr (no kids) and minimum wage is $15.50 which, according to the calculator, should cover 1 adult with 3 kids.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dgatwood ( 11270 )

            That will fly in the Southern US. It's right around average for my city actually. However, 70k is poverty wages in NYC.

            Teacher salaries are poverty wages. Always have been.

            $70k is literally slightly higher than the starting salary for a new public school teacher in NYC per student. It would literally be as cheap, assuming adequate supply of educators, to hire a private teacher for your child. And if you have more than one child, it would be massively cheaper.

            The U.S. average tuition for private schools is just $13,000. Even in a high-cost-of-living area like NYC, IMO, $70k per student cannot possibly be justifiable unle

        • Making 76k teaching in Texas this year, will make 82k next year. So, depends on where you live.

        • 70k a year should get me a private teacher per pupil, right?

          Sure, your kid in the morning, another kid in the afternoon. But it isn't about the access to teachers. It's about getting in with the "right" crowd and having the school's name that you can drop in casual conversation; and getting that kid access to the Ivy league schools and off to their destined role in the elite ruling class...

      • What shareholders?

        HAHAHA yes, no shareholders, but non-profits can pay their employees and board members anything they want.

  • Might, just maybe, be worth $210,000.

    But I doubt it.

  • Not surprised (Score:3)

    by necro81 ( 917438 ) on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @10:55AM (#65980044) Journal
    When it comes to private schools, the sky's the limit, and there seems to be a sizeable class of people across the world that will pay whatever. For someone whose net worth is $100,000,000, dropping $100k/yr for a private school is just 0.1% - a rounding error on their capital gains. (This math brought to you by my public education!)

    I am sure there are private schools in London, Paris, Dubai, Shanghai, etc. that are in the same price range. Eton School (outside London) is over £52k/yr. Hell, there is a top-ranked private high school (with boarding) in my small city whose cost is comparable to the Ivy Leagues.

  • Keeping up with the jones (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gurps_npc ( 621217 ) on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @11:22AM (#65980094) Homepage

    Every once in a while you see a story about a 'poor' man making $200k+ and not saving anything.

    There are two main reasons for their fiscal incompetence (plus a bonus one):

    1) They look at their neighbors - the guy to the right has a boat, the guy across the street has a ski house, and the guy to the left has a beach house. They buy one of each. Or they pick one and pay twice as much for it.

    2) They do something similar with kids. Often they will buy a great house in a good neighborhood/suburb 'for the kids' and then send them to private school. The entire point of the house in the right location is that it has a good SCHOOL. If you are sending your kids to private school you should be living in a much cheaper house. Just because you have kids does not mean you should spend all your money on them.

    Bonus reason: Total and complete fiscal stupidity buying worthless crap. Prime example is Time Shares. [ Even if one makes sense now, ten years later your financial situation will change. Either it will be too expensive or too cheap - and you will not use it. Even point systems are just later regrets]

    • I have to say I disagree with this viewpoint. If you have kids you *should* spend all your money on them (in an intelligent manner). For some people that means no vacation home and no Rivian so that the kids can go to private school. For some (especially in NYC) that means eating rice and beans so that your child can get special tutoring. I'm not sure if you have children in the public educational system, but what happens there is nightmarish, in my experience. I theoretically live in an excellent school d

      • I theoretically live in an excellent school district and I view my friends with means that leave their kids in public school as borderline abusers

        That doesn't sound like an excellent school district. What makes it excellent if you see it that way? I live in a medium cost of living area of about 1 million people. My kids went to public high school and most everyone in their sphere was competing for getting into top UC (California) system colleges and elite adjacent private universities. They had a great public school experience.

  • or if that is really too hard on your pride, copy Singapore, the graph on this page is like wow, (and if you don't believe it, the whole article asks if it is accurate).

    PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment, run under the auspices of the OECD) was so struck by the outcome that it introduced its five-volume report as follows:
    Students in the four provinces/municipalities of China that participated in the study outperformed by a large margin their peers from all of the other 78 participati

  • The Dalton School is the crustiest of the upper crust private school. Getting in is so absurd they actually made a movie about the absurdities where the admission information session for kindergarten was attended entirely by pregnant women. This is not a tuition that 99.999% of private school parents will pay. Fun fact: Jeffry Epstein was a teacher!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by PPH ( 736903 )

      The Dalton School

      How does that measure up against The Little Lord Fauntleroy Academy for Albino Hemophiliacs?

  • A fool and his money are soon parted. "Good" schools aren't going to make your lazy, idiot kid smart. "Bad" schools aren't going to hold a bright, motivated child back. Far more important than the schools are the attitudes towards their education the kid sees at home. Private school is a waste of money far more often than private school parents realize.

    • Private school isn't about the education, it's about the connections. Just like the Ivy League universities that have "legacy" preferences.

  • Tuition fully funds Avenues’ operations and the school does not ask families for other contributions, according to Tara Powers, the school’s head of communications.

    Wow, that's so nice of them!

  • Not about education (Score:3)

    by Big Bipper ( 1120937 ) on Tuesday February 10, 2026 @01:06PM (#65980346)
    Private schools are not about education. They are about networking. About getting your kids into the Old Boys ( Girls ) Club.

    • That's true. Even without the connections, the kids develop social polish that they wouldn't have otherwise. Later in life this serves as a shibboleth that they can use for admittance to elite groups.

  • soaring expenses including teacher salaries

    Assuming small class sizes of 20, and, if teacher salary is 50% of the costs of running the school, those teachers are earning $700k (salary + benefits), right?

  • The well-to-do in NYC want elite educations for their children. The current city administration is phasing out "gifted and talented" for the lower grades, and gives the impression that they would like to go further.

    In case you are not well-versed in US educational standards, being "gifted" in an inner city school basically means you are on grade-level by a classical standard (e.g. able to read and add single digits by first grade). There is some equity messaging in the rationale that sounds good in

  • FYI $39K in 2014 would be about $54K today, adjusted for inflation.

  • This sounds obscene until you see what it costs to educate people in the public school system. New York City is paying $42K per student. [nypost.com]

    New York State is paying about $33k per student. In the listing linked below, the states with the highest tuition rates are for the most part, blue leaning states. I note that the state I live in, North Carolina, is near the bottom of the ranking. In my experience our expenditures track with the outcomes.

    https://worldpopulationreview.... [worldpopul...review.com]

  • The tippy-top of the pyramid is out of reach of most people.

    The (top) (private schools) (in New York City) = (expensive) x (expensive) x (expensive)

    It is a small club, and you are not in it .

  • Private schools exist to churn out low-quality, barely educated dumbasses who are all connected to each other.

  • Can't you just hire a private teacher for that amount of money?

  • My old school currently costs over $80,000 at today's exchange rate...

    Teddies Fees [stedwardsoxford.org]

    Even back in the 90s, my parents couldn't afford the fees. Luckily (?) I was smart enough to get a scholarship...

    For those suggesting employing a private teacher for the same money... no, you'd need a teacher for each subject (very few are multi-disciplined at secondary level) plus you'd miss out on social development... which seems to be a thing for many home schooled kids...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Bahbus ( 1180627 )

      Full-time, full-packaged, private, homeschooling in the U.S. costs, at most, $70k/yr currently. In England, that figure is tops out around $52k/yr with current exchange rates. Social development does not need to come from school, though it is a generally decent source for it. There are also shared homeschooling that some families pitch in together with which costs less, obviously.

      So, you'd still save money. And a lot, for your example. Some of that may go to pay for clubs or other social activities for the

  • That price is getting close or has exceeded the cost to being able to hire a (licensed) teacher to come right to your home to teach. Plus, you would know exactly what your child / children are being taught.

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