About Boarding Schools

This article has been updated to reflect 2026 data and recent developments.

If you are just beginning to explore boarding schools, this article will give you a bird's-eye view of the options available. I suggest that you scan the article, and then drill down into anything that interests you. Our site has a wealth of information to guide your search process. And, if you don't find the answers you want, you probably will be able to find them on our sister site, Private School Review. Finally, if you have more questions, tweet me. I will be happy to help.

Size

Boarding schools range in size from rather small (100 students) to rather large (1200 students). Most boarding school populations are somewhere in the middle with 300-400 students. Compare these numbers to most public schools, and you will begin to see why size is so important in my opinion. I wanted my daughters to be visible when they went to boarding school. When the school community is a manageable size, teachers and administrative staff get to know their students quickly. More importantly, they will usually know what their young charges are up to. Boarding schools take their role as your substitute very seriously. The legal term is in loco parentis. Your child will not be invisible or able to hide when she attends boarding school.

Chatham Hall is an example of a small school. Everybody knows everybody in a school like this one.

By Barbara Kennedy, Director of External Affairs, Baylor School

Choosing a boarding school is a major decision, and prospective families often have similar questions about affordability, student life, athletics, and selecting the right school. The questions below reflect some of the most common concerns families have when exploring boarding schools. The answers have been updated where appropriate to reflect current information for 2026 while preserving the original guidance.

Question 1

Boarding school seems expensive. My parents' combined income is less than $90,000 a year. I am the oldest of three children. I have had a GPA of 3.9 through middle school and 9th grade. I play intramural soccer, had the lead in the spring musical last year, and want to be a physicist. Should I even consider going to a boarding school?

Paying for a boarding school education does require some planning, but it can be manageable, and the investment is invaluable. When considering the cost of boarding school, it is essential to know that need-based financial aid based on a family's income and assets is available at most schools. Many boarding schools have significantly expanded their financial aid budgets in recent years to make their programs accessible to talented students from a wide range of economic backgrounds. Other schools, including Baylor, offer merit scholarships as well. Most schools offer monthly payment plans (administered by the school or an outside agency), allowing families to spread their tuition payments over eight to ten months.

This brief video

The media loves to focus on things like elitism and how boarding schools are just for troubled kids. Let's look at the truth.

Boarding Schools Are Just for Rich Kids

False. Since about 2000, private schools have been very proactive in seeking out qualified applicants, regardless of their economic circumstances. Basically, if you qualify academically and have good recommendations, you can get in.

Furthermore, most schools offer financial aid packages. These vary from school to school, as each school is a standalone corporate entity with its own policies and procedures regarding financial aid. Several schools now offer a tuition-free education where family incomes fall below a specific threshold, typically between $75,000 and $100,000 annually. In 2026, some highly endowed boarding schools have expanded those thresholds even further because of increased accessibility initiatives.

Many families are surprised to learn how extensive aid programs have become at leading institutions such as Phillips Academy Andover and Phillips Exeter Academy.

If affordability is one of your main concerns, you may also want to read Financial Aid for Boarding Schools: 2026 Guide.

Boarding Schools Don't Let You Have a Life

False. While it is true that boarding schools will supervise your whereabouts at all times, the idea that you won't have a life is simply false.

In fact, there will be so much to do at boarding school that there will be times when you will wonder how you will be able to fit it all in. Sports

Boarding or residential schools occupy a unique niche in the K-12 educational world. Here are some facts to help you understand how these schools work and who they serve.

1. There Are Over 300 Boarding Schools in the U.S.

Most boarding schools prepare their students for college-level work. Hence the name "college prep" or "prep," which you will see in many school names. Most boarding schools are coeducational. But there are about a hundred schools that are single-sex schools. They accept and teach only boys or girls.

There are several types of boarding schools. Alternative and therapeutic schools serve specific needs, such as emotional and disciplinary issues. Other schools offer programs for students with learning differences such as dyslexia, ADHD, executive functioning challenges, and other special educational needs. They have the skilled, highly credentialed staff to ensure the best possible outcome for your child. They focus on college preparation as well. Military schools combine academics with leadership development and structured environments that many young people and their parents value. As you review the boarding school profiles on this site, you will discover that there is a school for every need and requirement.

Boarding schools today are poles apart from their stereotypical Hollywood images, as havens for children of privilege or refuges for troubled teens. Research continues to show that contemporary boarding schools serve a diverse body of motivated students who study and live in supportive, inclusive academic communities where they learn independence, responsibility, leadership, and collaboration. According to

This article has been updated to reflect 2026 data and recent developments

Why should you consider sending your child to boarding school? Wouldn't she do just as well at day school?

• This is a common question for parents to ponder as they review their private school options.
• You have made the decision to send him to a private school in principle.
• Now it is just a matter of working out the details.

There are many reasons to go to boarding school. Academics, athletics, and extracurricular activities are just a few of the considerations. But there's more. Much more.

In 2026, these considerations remain central to the boarding school decision, alongside increased attention to student wellness, residential support, independence, and preparation for college life. The Association of Boarding Schools describes boarding school as an immersive environment in which students can build independence while receiving support from a residential community.

Here are the 10 top reasons why you should go to boarding school.

10. You will get great teachers who love to teach.

• Boarding schools traditionally hire teachers with degrees in their subjects.
• A large number of these experienced teachers also have advanced degrees in their field.
• Typically, all are passionate about their subject and love to teach it to young people.

Because discipline is rarely a problem in boarding schools, these talented teachers get to teach without having to be traffic cops or paper pushers like their public school counterparts.

9. You will have great sports

. . .read more