Why Choose an Independent School?

Larry Goodman, Ph.D.
Andrews Osborne Academy Head of School


Generally speaking, schools in the United States are either “public” - funded through taxes and public funds - or “private” - funded through tuition and donations - (excluding those parents who choose to home-school their children). And within the category of “private” schools, there are two major clusters of schools - religious/parochial schools and independent schools. The religious/parochial schools are owned by, or beholden to, a religious organization or creed. The independent schools, on the other hand, are beholden only to their stated mission and their independent board of directors. Statistically, many more families choose public schools (90%) over private schools (10%);¹ and within the private school group, many more families choose the religious/parochial schools (87%) over independent schools (11%).² This effectively means that only 1% of Americans students attend an “independent school.” Given that they are in such a large minority, why DO the families who choose to send their children to an independent school make that choice?

College admission and college-readiness

Graduates from independent schools enjoy a strong edge in college admissions. In “Is there a Private School Advantage in College Admissions,” Dave Bergman notes: “Roughly 95% of non-parochial private high school grads go on to four-year postsecondary institutions compared with 49% of public school grads. And it’s also worth keeping in mind that only 10% of children in the U.S. attend private school, yet make up a disproportionately high percentage of accepted students at elite colleges.”³ Said differently, students who attend an independent (non-parochial private) school are twice as likely to attend a 4-year college/university as public school students - and more likely to do so than parochial/religious school students. Moreover, independent school students have a significant edge in admission to competitive colleges and universities over both public school students and parochial/religious school students.

And because of the small class size and high-caliber academic programs at independent schools, students who go to college from these schools also perform better once they get into college. This can be seen in the time it takes students entering college to graduate with a bachelor’s degree; over a 6-year period, 60% MORE independent school students will have completed their bachelor’s degree than their public school counterparts.4

Student-focused model

Independent schools are able to operate in a student-centered way, while public schools are often limited in their ability to do this due to government oversight and class size. When No Child Left Behind became the law of the land in 2001, one of the unintended consequences was that the educators in public schools were forced to focus on the metrics by which students are evaluated - not on the students themselves. In pursuit of more academically successful groups of students, individual students' needs became increasingly overlooked.

Because independent schools do not receive federal funding (for the most part), they were not impacted by NCLB - and while the public schools were moving away from a student-centered classroom, there was a trend in independent schools (aided by the burgeoning digital revolution) to try and tailor the educational formats and programs to the individual students’ needs. An old term - “differentiated instruction” - was being resuscitated and practiced in the classroom.

Average class size amplifies this difference. According to one writer, public school classrooms in urban areas are 2 or more times larger than independent schools in those same areas.⁵ So not only were the classrooms in the independent schools unimpacted by the federal mandates from NCLB, the student-to-teacher ratios were significantly smaller, which further enabled “differentiated instruction.”

More Opportunity Outside of the Classroom

The size of the overall student body in independent schools also creates an important advantage. As a rule, independent high schools are significantly smaller than their parochial and public counterparts - often 2 to 3 times smaller. This means that a student’s chances of making the soccer team, or getting a role in the school play, or being a part of the yearbook staff are 2 to 3 times better at an independent school.

This naturally creates a very different culture at independent schools versus public schools. At public schools, the shear size of the student body tends to segregate by interests and talents (the athletes are in one group, the artsy people are in another group, the bookworms are in a different group, and so on). At independent schools, however, the reverse is true. Because the schools tend to be significantly smaller, many students are part of multiple groups. The star of the basketball team can also be in the school play and be part of the school’s Mock Trial team; in fact, the small numbers almost require this kind of participation across groups. And so the culture that develops is one of shared experiences and closeness.

While this is good news for students who know they want to participate in a specific program area, it provides a second benefit. Yes, my volleyball-playing girl will be able to play on the volleyball team at a smaller independent school, whereas she might not make the cut at the large public school, but she will also be stretched by the experience of attending an independent school in a way that she would not be at a public school.

The smaller independent schools provide their students with more options for co-curricular experiences because they have fewer students competing for the same number of positions. The need for student participation across program areas and the culture of “joining” that evolves stimulates a broader co-curricular experience for the students. And, as a result, the students that attend these schools tend to expand their “comfort zones” into areas they may not have otherwise considered.
If you would like to learn more about independent schools, a great place to start is the website for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS).

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¹Huffpost.com. N. p., 2019. Web. 26 June 2019. Jack Jennings, Former President/CEO Center on Education Policy. ²"CAPE | Private School Facts." Capenet.org. N. p., 2019. Web. 27 June 2019. ³Bergman, Dave. "Is There A Private School Advantage In College Admissions?." College Transitions. N. p., 2017. Web. 27 June 2019. ⁴Capenet.org. N. p., 2019. Web. 27 June 2019
⁵"Public Vs. Private Schools: 5 Major Differences." ThoughtCo. N. p., 2019. Web. 27 June 2019.