College matriculation Trends at TOP US private schools:

A look at the last 50 years

Porter Sargent HandbookSa division of Carnegie Communications

1914

College matriculation Trends at TOP US private schools:

A look at the last 50 years

Copyright © 2012 by Carnegie Communications

daniel P. MckeeverSenior editor

Porter Sargent HandbookSa division of Carnegie Communications

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1959 4

1969 6

1979 8

1989 10

1999 12

2009 14

Conclusion 16

SupplementalCharts 18

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Introduction

Manymotivationsinspireaparent’squestforthebestpossibleeducationalenviron-mentforhisorherchild.Asoundeducationprovidesthefoundationforameaningfulandthoughtfullife.Goodschoolingnotonlyhelpsusacquiretheknowledgeandtheskillsthatwillultimatelymakeusattractivetoemployers,italsoteachesushowtoreasonandtothinkcritically—indispensablelifeskillsthatwillserveuswellinanyendeavor.

Strictlypracticalconsiderations,ofcourse,comeintoplayduringtheschoolselectionprocess.Asachildprogressesfromoneschooltothenext,pastperformancedictatesclassplacementatanewschool—or,inthecaseofprivateeducation,whetherthestudentmeetsrequirementsforadmission.Shouldafamilychooseprivateschool-ing,competitionforenrollmentmaybestiff.Itstandstoreasonthatastudentwhoperformswellatahighlyregardedelementaryschoolhasacompetitiveedgeduringthehighschooladmissionprocessoverapupilwhodoesroughlyaswellataschoolwithalessstellarreputation.

Byextension, a similar scenario plays out for high school seniors seekingadmis-siontoupper-echeloncolleges.Doesthisundeniablecompetitiveedgetranslateintomatriculationatthenation’smosthighlyregardedcolleges?Doesattendanceatanesteemedprivateschool—onethatcarrieswithitarelativelyhightuitioncost—sig-nificantlyimproveastudent’sopportunitytopursuehighereducationatoneoftheverytopAmericancolleges?

Withawealthofdata thatdatesback to1914,PorterSargentHandbooks is inauniquepositiontoanswerthesequestionsbyanalyzingdataandassessingtrendsinAmericanprivateeducation.The Handbook of Private Schools, thenation’sorigi-nalprivateschoolresource,debutedin1915andhasbeenanauthoritativeannualreferenceeversince.

TheHandbook listsanddescribesapproximately1700ofthenation’stopboardinganddayelementaryandsecondaryprivateschools.Fortheexaminationthatfollows,wewillexaminecollegematriculationtrendsatcompetitiveprivatehighschools.Forthepurposesofthisstudy,wewillrestrictourfocustoaselectionof38boardinganddaysecondaryschoolsfromaroundthecountry,allofwhomcurrentlyfallinthetopthirdofHandbook listeesintermsofhighesttuitioncost.

Tobenefitfromthemostcomprehensivematriculationdata,wewillbeginourstudyin1959 (withdata from the1960Handbook)andproceedat10-year incrementsthrough2009(withdatafromthe2010Handbook).Asamannerofmaintainingastrictlyelitestandardforourcollegedestinationsofinterest,wewillbeutilizingthecurrentU.S. News & World Report NationalUniversityRankings:

BrownCaliforniaInstituteofTechnology

••

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ColumbiaCornellDartmouthDukeEmoryHarvardJohnsHopkinsMITNorthwesternNotreDamePennPrincetonRiceStanfordUniversityofChicagoVanderbiltWashingtonUniversityinSt.LouisYale

Herearetheprivatesecondaryschoolsthatconstitutethisstudy:

TheBaldwinSchool(Bryn Mawr, PA)BerwickAcademy(South Berwick, ME)BreckSchool(Minneapolis, MN)BrooksSchool(North Andover, MA)TheBrynMawrSchool(Baltimore, MD)CastillejaSchool(Palo Alto, CA)CatlinGabelSchool(Portland,OR)Chase Collegiate School [formerly St. Margaret’s-McTernan School]

(Waterbury, CT)ChoateRosemaryHall(Wallingford, CT)ColumbiaGrammarandPreparatorySchool(New York, NY)DaltonSchool(New York, NY)DetroitCountryDaySchool(Beverly Hills, MI)FoxcroftSchool(Middleburg, VA)GeorgetownPreparatorySchool(North Bethesda, MD)Harvard-WestlakeSchool(North Hollywood, CA)HawkenSchool(Gates Mills, OH)HopkinsSchool(New Haven, CT)TheHotchkissSchool(Lakeville, CT)KentDenverSchool(Englewood, CO)LakesideSchool(Seattle, WA)LatinSchoolofChicago(Chicago, IL)LawrencevilleSchool(Lawrenceville, NJ)MaryInstituteandSaintLouisCountryDaySchool(St. Louis, MO)McDonoghSchool(Owings Mills, MD)

••••••••••••••••••

••••••••

••••••••••••••••

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MercersburgAcademy(Mercersburg, PA)MiddlesexSchool(Concord, MA)MontclairKimberlyAcademy(Montclair, NJ)NationalCathedralSchool(Washington, DC)NobleandGreenoughSchool(Dedham, MA)ThePingrySchool(Martinsville, NJ)RansomEvergladesSchool(Miami, FL)RiverdaleCountrySchool(Bronx, NY)RoxburyLatinSchool(West Roxbury, MA)ShadySideAcademy(Pittsburgh, PA)St.AlbansSchool(Washington, DC)St.George’sSchool(Middletown, RI)St.Paul’sSchool(Concord, NH)TheWebbSchools(Claremont, CA)

••••••••••••••

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1959

At theendof the1950s, tuitionandboardat theschools inour sample typicallyexceeded$2000perannum,withLawrencevilletoppingthelistat$3000.Expens-esat the13day schoolswereoften less than$1000ayear,withDalton leading

thewayat$1200.Collegematriculationexceeded95%atnearlyeveryschool,and17schoolssentalloftheirgraduatesdirectlytocollege.(Hawkenwasnotincludedinthesecomputations,asitdidnotthenextendthroughgrade12.)

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Since college matriculation data first appeared in the Handbook, Porter SargentHandbookshastrackedthesixmostcommoncollegedestinationsforeachgraduat-ingclass,asreportedbytheschools.Foreachedition,respondingschoolshavealsobeenencouragedtoprovidethenumberofmatriculantstoeachofthetopsixmostcommondestinations.

Onaverage,aremarkable45.6%—nearlyhalf—ofthereportedcollegedestinationsforourselectionofschools landedontheUS News university list.Ninesecondaryschoolshadfiveelitecollegesamongtheirsixmostcommondestinations:Hotchkiss,Choate,Middlesex,St.Paul’s,Lawrenceville,Mercersburg,RoxburyLatin,St.LouisCountryDay(aboys’schoolpriortoitsmergerwithMaryInstitute)andRiverdale.Every school in our samplehadat least oneelite collegeamong its top-sixmostcommondestinations,andthenormwasatleasttwo.

Delvingdeeper into thenumbers,we find thatnearlyone-quarter(23.4%)of thesample schools’ graduates attended one of the 20 elite colleges. In light of theextremelylimitednatureofthiscollegelist,theseresultsareextremelyimpressive.Ofits911959graduates,St.Paul’ssent64(70.3%)totop-tiercolleges;RoxburyLatin,St.LouisCountryDayandMiddlesexwereclosebehind,boastingpercentagesof65,55.8and55.6,respectively.

Brightstudentswiththegoodfortuneofattendingoneofthesepreparatoryschoolsbackinthelate1950shadatremendousopportunitytocontinuetheireducationatoneofthecountry’sverytopuniversities.

For the complete list of 1959 percentages, see page 18

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1969

Boarding tuitions at our sample schools toward the close of the 1960s generallyexceededthe$3000mark,withBaldwinandtheschoolnowreferredtoasChaseCollegiatetoppingthelistat$3700.Daytuitionsrangedtowardthehighteens,ledbyHopkinsat$1900.

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Thepassingofadecadedid littletoreign inthecollegeadmissionsuccessofthe38 trackedsecondary schools,withonlya slightoverall decline ineliteuniversitymatriculation.Top-sixmatriculationtoupper-tiercollegesdroppedonlyslightly,from45.6%overallin1959to40.4%in1969.HotchkissandSt.George’sbothhadfiveelitecollegesamongtheirsixmost frequentdestinations.Allbuttwoschools fea-turedatleastonetargetuniversityonitstop-sixlist.

As faras thepercentageofgraduatesattendingelitecolleges isconcerned, therewasanincreaseddropin1969from10yearsprior:23.4%to15.8%.Thisstillrep-resents a very impressive percentage, albeit not as stratospheric as thepreviousfigure.Despiteasamplesizelimitedbytheabsenceofmatriculationdatafromfourofthe38preparatoryschoolsin1969,fourschoolssentmorethan40%oftheircol-lege-boundstudentstotop-tieruniversities:St.George’s(46%),St.Paul’s(45.3%),Middlesex(43.5%)andNobleandGreenough(41.5%).Manyoftheothersampledschoolsapproachedorexceededone-fifthrepresentation,suggestingthatenrollmentatacompetitivepreparatoryschooljustifiedtheexpenseforthoseaspiringtoelitecollegeentrance.

For the complete list of 1969 percentages, see page 19

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1979

Annualboardingschooltuitionfelllargelybetween$5400and$6200asthe1970sdrewtoaclose.At$6995,Castillejachargedthehighestrecordedfee.Dayschooltuitionshoveredlargelybetween$2500and$3500,withDetroitCountryDaytop-pingthelistat$3900.

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Whileelitecollegematriculationratesdeclinedsomewhatfrom1969,theyheldtovery impressive levels. Nearly unchanged was the percentage of most-attendedcolleges,whichdroppedasinglepointoverthedecade:40.4%to39.4%.Withallsurveyedschoolsreportingmatriculationinformation,four—St.Albansat80%andRiverdale,St.Paul’sandHotchkissat83.3%—reachedorsurpassedthe80%pla-teau, thesamenumberofschools that failed toshowelitecollege representationamongtheirmostpopularstudentdestinations.

Therelativedropinthepercentageofmatriculantsdestinedforupper-echelonuni-versitiesinthis10-yearperiodstoodatonly2.8%,asthecollectiveratecontinuedtobearobust13%.Most impressive inthesamplewasLawrenceville,whichsawclosetohalfofitscollege-boundstudents—59of129—headofftotop-rankeduni-versities. All told, seven surveyed schools exceeded 24% graduate matriculationlevels,astrongindicationofthedegreeofcollegepreparationofferedbythisgroupofschools.

For the complete list of 1979 percentages, see page 20

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1989

Private school tuition tooka substantial leap in the10years leadingup to1989.Boardingcostsspiked,withmanyinthe$15,000perannumrange.Theupperboundagain was Castilleja, at $15,950. Day school rates exhibited a similar rise, withtuitiontypicallyexceeding$7000andtoppingoutatColumbiaGrammar’s$11,200.

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Our data indicates, however, that these additional tuition expenses may haveamountedtomoneywellspentforparentshopingtoenrolltheirstudentsattheverybestcolleges.Ofallyearssurveyed,1989returnedthehighestaveragepercentageofeliteschoolsonourlistsofsampledschools’mostcommoncollegedestinations:48.6%,a23.3%increasefromthe1979aggregate.Forthefirsttime,allofapre-paratoryschool’smost-attendedcolleges landedon theeliteuniversities list,withRiverdaleachievingthishighlyunlikelyfeat.Aglanceattheperformanceoftheother36schoolssupplyingmatriculationdatafor1989confirmsthestrengthofthistrendtowardeliteschooladmission.Whileonlyoneschoolfailedtolistatleastonetop-tieruniversityonitslistofmostcommoncollegedestinations,five—Lakeside,RoxburyLatin,RansomEverglades,St.Paul’sandSt.Albans—hadfiveeliteschoolsontheirtopdestinationslists,andanotherninereportedfourelitecolleges.

Asfarastotalpercentageofcollegematriculants isconcerned,therewasaslightdecline(13%to12.2%)from1979,butthismodestdropmaymerelyindicatethesheervolumeofcompetitivecollegesthatwerethenavailable.Despitetheoveralldecrease, four secondary schools still exceeded the 20% plateau: Roxbury Latin(39.5%),St.Albans(25.4%),Riverdale (22.8%)andHotchkiss (20.3%).Withoutquestion,1989wasaverystrongyearofcollegeplacementforourcross-sectionofschools.

For the complete list of 1989 percentages, see page 21

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1999

Tuitionathighlycompetitiveprivateschoolscontinuedtoescalatetowardthecloseofthe20thcentury.Allbutoneboardingschoolsetitstuitionabove$20,000peryear,withGeorgetownPrep’sratetoppingthelistat$27,000.Dayschoolratestendedtorangefromthemiddletohighteens;Riverdale’s$20,100tuitionwasthehighest.

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Anexaminationofmatriculationdataadecadelaterfurthershowcasesthestrengthofcollegepreparationevidentthroughoutourpreparatoryschoollineup.Onceagain,theschoolsreportingmatriculationdata(allbutoneofthe38sampledinstitutions)showedaconsistentpropensityforsendinggraduatestotop-tiercolleges.Theoverallpercentageofeliteschoolsamongmostcommondestinationsdroppedonlyslightlyfrom1989,clockinginatanimpressive45.9%.Justasin1989,oneofthesecondaryschoolsinourcross-section—thistime,St.Albans—hadnothingbuteliteschoolsonitstop-sixdestinationlist.Inaddition,therewerenofewerthaneightschoolsthathadfiveupper-echelonuniversitiesontheirlists:St.Paul’s,Lawrenceville,KentDen-ver,NationalCathedral,RoxburyLatin,Pingry,RiverdaleandLakeside.Incontrast,onlytwoschoolsfailedtoreportatleastoneeliteuniversityontheirlists.

Perhaps even more impressively, the 1999 percentage of college-bound studentsmatriculatingat top-tier colleges increased fromthesolid1989 levelof12.2%to13.4%.Threeschoolshadparticularlystrongshowings:RoxburyLatinat50%,St.Albansat46.7%andNationalCathedralat32.8%.Onlytwoschoolsfailedtoreportan elite college among their most common graduate destinations, indicating howconsistentlystellarourschoolsamplehasbeeninitspreparationforthemost-com-petitivecolleges.

For the complete list of 1999 percentages, see page 22

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2009

Tuitionsatprivate schools in themoreexpensive tierwereapproximatingprivatecollegechargesby2009.Mostboardingschoolsinoursampleeasilyexceededthe$40,000barrier, ledbySt.Albansat$46,667annually.Dayschool rates typicallyapproachedorsurpassed$30,000,toppingoutatRiverdale’s$38,800.

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Thefinalyearofthissurveycertainlyreinforcedourpreviousfindings.Forthesixthtimeinsixopportunities,thepercentageofeliteuniversitiesamongmost-commoncollegedestinationswasaboveorwithinapercentagepointof40%.Withanoverallaverageof41.7%in2009,thestudycross-sectionagainfeaturedRiverdaleastheone schoolwhosemost common collegeplacements consisted entirely of top-tieruniversities.NobleandGreenoughreportedfiveeliteuniversitiesamongtheirsixtopchoices,while10preparatoryschoolslistedfourupper-echeloncolleges.Incontrast,onlytwosampledschoolsreportednoelitecollegesontheirtop-destinationslist.

Although the aggregate percentage of college-bound students matriculating atupper-echelon universities was at its lowest point among surveyed years, it stillreached10%.Fiveschoolsexceededthe20%mark:RoxburyLatin(28%),NobleandGreenough(27%),Dalton(24%),Castilleja(23%)andRiverdale(22.2%).Onceagain,onlytwoschoolsreportednotop-tierschoolsamongtheirmostcommoncol-legedestinations.

For the complete list of 2009 percentages, see page 23

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Conclusion

ThewealthofdatacompiledforThe Handbook of Private Schools overthecourseofsixdecadesprovideduswithacomprehensiveviewofcollegematriculationresultsforacross-sectionof38well-establishedprivateschools.Armedwiththisextensiveinformation,wesetouttoanswerthisquestion:Doesaneducationatarelativelyexpensiveprivateschoolconstituteawiseinvestmentforstudentsseekingadmis-siontothenation’s20topcolleges,asrankedbyU.S. News & World Report intheirinfluentialNationalUniversityRankings?

For thesakeof simplicity—andbecause the20collegeson thecurrent list repre-sent an excellent cross-section of elite American universities—we have used themostcurrentNationalUniversityRankingsasoursourceforcomparison.At10-yearincrementsdatingbackto1959,wetrackedhowoftentheseelitecollegesappearedamong preparatory schoolsmost-common college destinations.We then took ourexaminationastepfurtherbyanalyzingthepercentageofcollege-boundgraduateswhomatriculatedatoneofthe20elitecolleges.

Theresultsofourstudyleavelittledoubtthatesteemedprivateschoolsofferout-standingpreparation for college, somuch so thatmatriculationsat theverybestAmericanuniversitiesarecommonplace.Thefactthatplacementsatelitecollegesremained at such consistently high levels throughout the course of the study istruly remarkable.One should also keep in mind that the preparatory school listswerelimitedtosixcollegedestinations.Therefore,thefiguresdiscussedherewouldhavebeenevenmoreimpressivehadwebeenabletotrackelitecollegematricula-tionsbeyondthesixmost-commonannualplacements.Also,manystudents—eventhosewhoattendtopprivateschools—donotaspiretoelitecollegeattendance.Forinstance,thesepupilsmaywishtoattendcollegeinapartofthecountrythatdoesnotincludeaneliteuniversity,ortheymaybeinterestedinstudyingtheartsoraspecializedsubjectarea.

College preparation is but one consideration for those evaluating their secondaryschooleducationaloptions.There is littledoubt,however,thatcollegepreparationis an extremely important factor formany students and parents. In our study, across-sectionofwell-regardedindependentschoolscertainlydisplayedthecollectivestrengthoftheirelitecollegepreparation.

Whilethesecondaryschoolssurveyedfellintheupperthirdofannualtuitioncost,itisimportanttonotethattheseschoolsworkdiligentlytoenrollstudentsfromalleco-nomicstrataandtoincreaseaffordability.Amongelitepreparatoryschools,financialaidprogramsaretypicallyrobust,andmanyschoolsmaintainofficesofdiversitytomaximizesocioeconomicandracialvarietyinthestudentbody.Infact,datacom-piledforapreviousPorterSargentHandbooks’reporttrackingfinancialaidtrendsat30eliteAmericanboardingschoolsindicatedthatmorethanathirdofthestudentsatthesurveyedschools(34.8%)receivedfinancialaidawardsin2010.Thisgener-osityisevenmoreimpressivewhenonerealizesthattheaveragereportedawardinthesamplethatyearcovered54.1%oftotaltuitionexpenses(readthefullreportat

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www.portersargent.com/FinancialAidTrends.pdf).Clearly,discountingthepossibilityofindependenteducationbecauseofcostconsiderations—especiallybeforeexploringaidoptionsatschoolsofinterest—wouldbeamistakeforparentsseekingthebesteducationfortheirchildren.

Ourstudyhasdemonstratedtheconsistenteffectivenessofcollegepreparationat38boardinganddayschoolsoveraperiodspanningsixdecades.Ifgainingentrancetoahighly selective college isapriority, seriousprivate school consideration isaprudentdecision.

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