Is private school the next bubble?

[Anonymous]

I feel like the private schools have really upped their advertising campaigns this year. Anyone else notice that? Maybe they are hurting a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This same question has been posed for the last at least 4 years on this board with the speculation that it has to happen soon. I think its just wishful thinking more than anything.

But to be fair, people had been asking if the housing market was a bubble for 4 years or more before it happened too.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand this thread. Private school education is not a marketable asset in the way houses or stocks are, so the value does not fluctuate once you pay tuition.

The only way this makes sense is if you think of all private schools as a bloated industry, and assume the industry is going to "crash" so that lots of schools go out of business all of a sudden because a large portion of the population suddenly and unexpectedly refuses to enroll, so the schools can no longer cover their fixed costs. But that seems highly unlikely, because even if OP is correct that tuition costs at some schools are too high, then the likely market response is for many schools to begin to compete on price by charging less.

Now that I've written all that, I'm finally grasping I'm just taking OP too literally. OP doesn't really mean any of this; she's just putting the same old complaints about school tuition costs in a new wrapper. Nevermind my counter-rant.

[Anonymous]

Has it been easier to get into private schools (for Pre-K) since the great recession?

[Anonymous]

The most competitive are still overwhelmed with applications. But there are some very good ones that have not been able to fill their classes. I don't see any evidence of dropping prices, though, even at the ones not being filled.

[Anonymous]

The only reason why there has not been a bubble in this town is that DC is filled with enough 1% to pay the ever increasing private school tuitions. So, the schools end up with mostly kids from the top 1-3%, say, with a few token low income kids to make everybody feel good about themselves. What if tuition went down, then the broad middle would suddenly being able to afford these schools. The idea that the broad middle includes up to the top 5% is absurd on its face. And, if that broad middle were able to pay full freight at these schools, many of the kids from the top 1-3% would not be admitted. Unlike universities, which have similar issues, private schools will never have enough FA to subsidize the "broad middle."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article, at the level of law school though not private school: http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/how_long_can_the_law_school_bubble_last/[/quote

Law schools (as with business schools) are profit centers at many universities. You only need a few classrooms, and a few teachers, and a library. Not much else. The idea that tuition at law schools and business schools has increased so much is absurd. I have frankly ceased giving anything more than a token to my law/business school. These graduate schools are the least worthwhile organizations for my contributions. And I have very fond memories of my time there.

[Anonymous]

The other reason why there has not been a bubble in this town is that DC public schools are overcrowded with low achieving kids of the poor and illiterate. The wealthy and many upper middle class families would only consider private schools for their kids.

[Anonymous]

There are enough DC folks in the 1% that the most elite privates will survive. Some of the lower tiered ones might not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are enough DC folks in the 1% that the most elite privates will survive. Some of the lower tiered ones might not.

The fact that private schools are willing to accept that their student populations are limited to kids from top 1-5% families plus a few kids from much lower income families is a serious moral indictment of these schools. Who are they really serving? What are their moral principles? What is the basis for their existence? What do they stand for? Not much, it appears!

[Anonymous]

Please answer the questions that you just asked as best you can. I would be interested.

[Anonymous]

Maybe, this study answers the question.

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/27/10512938-rich-people-more-likely-to-cheat-behave-badly-research-finds

[Anonymous]

And we must not forget that it was the best and brightest on Wall Street (many of whom came from Ivy League schools and top private high schools) who created the Great Recession. Wall Street was selling stuff to folks that they neither understood nor were buying for their own accounts. And then they called those folks "clients." And some call that ethics.