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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't know about this area, but the Great Financial Crisis killed private schools in the Philadelphia Area, where I grew up, and which historically has very high rates of private school attendance. Whereas in many areas, private schools are reserved for the affluent, lower cost independent schools were much more common around there. Schools went from four classes per grade down to one, and enrollment tanked. Many schools closed.

Because of the k-shaped economy, my guess is the schools hardest hit will be the lower cost ones more populated by the middle to upper-middle class or those that have extremely high percentages of students on aid (50%+). [/quote]

The Great Recession impacted enrollment numbers at the Baltimore privates and some still haven't returned to their old sizes. No school closed, all are doing fine. But enrollment numbers did drop, and noticeably at some schools (down by 200 for example). Most of the bleeding was elementary and middle schools. It was less people withdrawing students but stopping enrolling their kids. At the same time, inflation in school fees was still going up substantially and outpacing income growth and that is the real reason for why some schools haven't returned to their pre 2008 sizes.

My observation of the private school world today is that most private schools now cater entirely to the top 1-2% (compared to the top 10% 20 years ago) and they are in a position to weather any localized recessions better. To see the real impact of recessions you need to look at parochial schools. DOGE in DC isn't impacting most of the privates because most parents aren't government employees and that's been the case for a long time. [/quote]

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