Private school

This article is about primary and secondary education. For tertiary education, see Private university. For the film, see Private School (film).

Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, one of the oldest private boarding schools in the United States
Share enrolled in private institutions at the pre-primary education level (2015)
Share enrolled in private institutions at the primary education level (2015)
Share enrolled in private institutions at the tertiary education level (2015)

A private school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school.[note 1] Private schools (also known as 'independent schools') are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their financial endowment.[1] Unless privately owned they typically have a board of governors and have a system of governance that ensures their independent operation.

Private schools retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students for tuition, rather than relying on taxation through public (government) funding; at some private schools students may be eligible for a scholarship, lowering this tuition fee, dependent on a student's talents or abilities (e.g., sports scholarship, art scholarship, academic scholarship), need for financial aid, or tax credit scholarships that might be available.[2] Roughly one in 10 U.S. families have chosen to enroll their children in private school for the past century.[3]

Some private schools are associated with a particular religious denomination or religion, such as Roman Catholicism, various branches of Protestantism or Judaism. Although private schools may have a religious affiliation, the precise use of the term excludes parochial (and other) schools if there is a financial dependence upon, or governance subordinate to, outside organizations. These definitions generally apply equally to both primary and secondary education.


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  1. ^ "Types of school". GOV.UK. United Kingdom Government. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  2. ^ "What is a Tax-Credit Scholarship? – EdChoice". EdChoice. Archived from the original on 18 June 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Who Goes to Private School? Long-term enrollment trends by family income – Education Next". Education Next. 17 July 2018. Archived from the original on 2 October 2018. Retrieved 2 October 2018.