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One school is set to charge an eye-watering $71,852 for the upcoming school year
Isabel Keane in New York Monday 09 February 2026 20:27 GMT- Bookmark
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Some New York City private schools charge more than $70,000 for tuition – surpassing some of the top colleges in the country, according to a report.
Sending a child to the Big Apple’s top private schools has always been expensive, though the cost has drastically increased over the past decade, up from an average cost of $39,900 a year in 2014, Bloomberg reported.
“Each time you cross into a new $10,000 increment, it feels like a milestone,” said Barbara Scott, the executive director of Parents League of New York, a nonprofit that helps parents apply to private schools.
For many of the families the group helps, “the numbers are what the numbers are, and they’re looking for a stellar education for their children and they’re willing to pay what’s necessary to secure that experience,” Scott added.
The cost of 15 private schools across New York City rose an average of 4.7 percent between the 2025-2026 school year and the 2026-2027 school year, outpacing inflation, Bloomberg reported.
open image in gallerySome New York City private schools may cost more than $70,000 for the 2026-2027 school year, according to a report (PA Archive)Some of the schools blamed tuition increases on the rising cost of living in New York, which means teachers receive higher salaries. In some cases, the tuition can also include learning supplies, meals and extracurriculars, according to the report.
Tuition at Poly Prep Country Day School, which will cost $71,852 for the 2026-2027 school year, is set by the school’s board of trustees, head of school Noni Thomas López told Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, tuition at Avenues The World School, one of the most expensive private schools in the city, was already above $70,000 for the current school year, and is set to rise to $75,300 for 2026-2027.
While the tuition is high, it fully funds the school’s operations. The school also does not ask families for other contributions, according to the report.
“There is definite sticker shock for some families — especially those relocating to New York from perhaps not major cities — but there’s also acceptance,” Sharon Decker, a consultant who helps families apply to private schools, told Bloomberg.
“There’s an expectation that just as the cost of living goes up, that tuition will go up every year, whether it’s preschool or college,” Decker added.
New York City’s private schools are among the most expensive in the country. The average tuition nationwide for 2025 was just below $50,000, according to the report.
The city’s most elite preschools can also run parents $70,000 a year – before their child even enters kindergarden.
That number is comparable to the average amount students spend to attend a private, nonprofit university.
open image in galleryThe cost for the average New York City private school is comparable to the cost of a semester at a private university (Getty/iStock)According to the Education Data Initiative, the average private, nonprofit university student spends $58,628 per academic year living on campus, and $38,421 of it on tuition and fees.
That cost over four years can reach an average of $226,512, according to the data.
The shockingly expensive figures come as many Americans feel a four-year college degree is no longer worth the cost.
A survey by NBC News last November found that 63 percent of Americans agreed a college degree is “not worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off.”
Only 33 percent of respondents agreed that a four-year degree is worth the cost. Four percent of respondents said they were unsure.
The results marked a dramatic shift from the results of a similar NBC News poll in 2017, which showed Americans were more evenly divided on the issue. At the time, about 49 percent of Americans said a four-year degree was worth the cost, while 47 percent said it wasn’t.
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