US private school tuition nears $67,000 as inflation lifts costs
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About 60 per cent of US schools reported enrolment growth in autumn 2024 compared with a year earlier.
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WASHINGTON – The cost to attend private schools in the United States has hit all-time highs as inflationary pressures prompt institutions to boost fees.
The annual tuition for a day school rose about 7.4 per cent to US$49,284 (S$66,860) on average, and for a boarding school it climbed roughly 5.3 per cent to US$73,080, according to an annual report on the sector released on Feb 12 by S&P Global Ratings.
The percentage increase for day schools was the most in at least a decade, according to the data from 53 independent schools that S&P rates.
The jump was partly due to schools holding back on hiking fees during the pandemic, but as inflationary pressures have boosted costs – be it teacher salaries or materials – the institutions need to charge students more.
“They were trying not to lose any of their market share by keeping tuition down,” said Mr Alexander Enriquez, an associate director at S&P. “There’s a sense that there’s an ability to control the pricing from the school’s end.”
The sector is seeing strong demand in spite of the soaring cost.
About 60 per cent of schools reported enrolment growth in autumn 2024 compared with a year earlier, with 8 per cent of schools seeing growth of more than 3 per cent.
Analysts cautioned that rising tuition in the midst of shifting demographics as the number of school-age children dwindles, as well as expanding choice of schools and voucher programmes, could prompt parents to favour lower-cost options depending on their state’s particulars.
In 2024, independent schools issued more than US$800 million in municipal bonds – the most since 2008 – after the 2023 regional bank crisis interrupted the sector’s long-standing practice of borrowing in direct deals with banks.
S&P saw nine schools pay for ratings, the biggest surge since at least 2010, according to analysts.
Only one independent school has sold muni bonds so far in 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. But that was just the beginning, and there are projects to fund.
“The schools still have great needs, and when we talk to a lot of these management teams, we’re talking about phase one of a project,” said Mr Enriquez. “They want to make their buildings more attractive. They want to make the space more usable, more functional for the modern era.” BLOOMBERG
