For-Profit Schools on the Rise

Jun 21, 2019, 1:17 PM

(From The Washington Post) The number of high-end for-profit private schools – costing close to $60,000 per child – continue to grow. In an interview with the podcast “Have You Heard,” Mike Levy, former curriculum director at Avenues World School in New York City, explained the difference between for-profit and nonprofit high-end private schools. While every for-profit K-12 school is different, they tend to provide students with many of the same resources at a traditional nonprofit school such as distinctive facilities, emotional coaching and a low teacher-to-student ratio. However, the culture of for-profit private schools is usually different from their nonprofit counterparts. Unlike many nonprofit schools, they tend to be chains or franchises focused on expansion rather than on the excellence of a single campus. And parents who send their children to for-profit schools are ultimately comfortable with the profit motive as an influence of their child’s educational experience, according to Levy.