50. Buckingham Browne & Nichols School
Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $42,320
Enrollment: 1,017
Incoming ninth graders spend eleven days at the beginning of their Upper School career on a camping trip getting to know their peers and teachers. This tradition is known as "Bivouac."
49. The Winsor School
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $42,400
Enrollment: 430
The all-girls Winsor School has incredible facilities, including three art studios, seven spacious science labs, a recording studio, a multi-media language learning lab, a library, and an assembly hall in the main building alone.
48. The Masters School
Location: Dobbs Ferry, New York
Tuition and fees: $42,410
Enrollment: 475
Located atop a hill in the historic town of Dobbs Ferry, The Masters School recently released a new strategic plan for 2015–2020, which includes a new mission statement: "The Masters School celebrates active participation, deep understanding, and meaningful connection. A community of diverse individuals, we gather to learn, to strive, to dare, to do — to be a power for good in the world."
47. The Madeira School
Location: McLean, Virginia
Tuition and fees: $42,461
Enrollment: 306
Madeira makes sure its girls never want for access to the latest technology. For that reason, all teachers have iPads and all classrooms are equipped with Apple TVs.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad46. Canterbury School
Location: New Milford, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $42,598
Enrollment: 350
The Roman Catholic school operates on Five Values — Honesty, Respect, Compassion, Spirituality, and Self-Reliance — that drive and motivate students to succeed. More than one-fifth of the class of 2015 graduated with a GPA of 3.7 or higher.
44. Walnut Hill School for the Arts
Location: Natick, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $42,900
Enrollment: 300
Day students can request to "affiliate" with one of the dorms on campus in order to have access to common rooms and resources, and bond with their residential classmates.
43. Dalton School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $42,960
Enrollment: 1,300
Dalton is the alma mater of some high profile alumni, including Anderson Cooper, Claire Danes, and Chevy Chase. One of the most prestigious private schools in New York, Dalton cites Cornell, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, and Harvard as the top five colleges where students matriculate after graduation.
42. Brooks School
Location: North Andover, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $43,002
Enrollment: 380
Students participate in afternoon programs in the arts, sports, and community service; if they're passionate about another subject or issue, they also have the option of designing their own afternoon programs.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad41. Avon Old Farms School
Location: Avon, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $43,100
Enrollment: 408
The all-boys Old Avon Farms School has one of the strongest athletic programs in the country. Their teams have won over 30 league and New England championships in the past 15 years, and often send their players off to top collegiate sports teams.
40. Choate Rosemary Hall
Location: Wallingford, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $43,251
Enrollment: 865
Choate students never feel lost or alone on campus; day students have access to a Director of Day Students, as well as 10 student prefects who act as advisors, mentors, and friends.
All students are required to have the latest generation iPad, which factors into the school fees.
39. Collegiate School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $43,400*
Enrollment: 653
The all-boys school builds strong leadership skills by giving students the opportunity to lead one another as peer leaders in small group activities on campus and class trips. Seniors have the option of spending a significant part of their last semester on an in-depth independent project. Past projects ranged from internships to creating documentaries to teaching students in younger grades.
*2014-2015 tuition and fees
38. Beaver Country Day School
Location: Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $43,630
Enrollment: 457
Beaver partners with MIT in creating the NuVu Studio program, where MIT scholars use the MIT studio model style of learning to train Beaver students in technology and innovation studies.
Additional tuition refund insurance, billed at 0.9% of annual tuition, is mandatory.
36 (TIE). Léman Manhattan Preparatory School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $43,650
Enrollment: 530
Léman Manhattan a sister school of both the Collège du Léman on the outskirts of Geneva, Switzerland, and Léman International School in Chengdu, China. The three schools form a close-knit consortium. Léman Manhattan offers the unique International Baccalaureate Diploma Program, which aims to prepare students for adult life in a global society.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad36 (TIE). Dana Hall School
Location: Wellesley, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $43,650*
Enrollment: 355
Founded by Henry Durant, who also founded Wellesley College, Dana Hall remains one of the most prestigious all-girls schools in the country. Girls from the class of 2015 went on to colleges such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and more.
*2014-2015 tuition and fees
35. Dwight School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $43,675
Enrollment: 740
College counseling for Dwight School students starts early and continues until acceptance letters come in the mail. Dwight is a pipeline to some of the top universities in the world, including Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Princeton, MIT, NYU, and McGill.
33 (TIE). The Brearley School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $43,680
Enrollment: 698
Rising juniors and seniors at this all-girls school have the opportunity to spend three weeks in India, China, or Vermont, working on projects that involve sustainable farming, examining poverty, or improving education.
33 (TIE). Concord Academy
Location: Concord, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $43,680*
Enrollment: 375
Day students make up about half the student body at CA. But they still have access to all the same resources as boarders, including late-night library hours and after-class extra help from teachers.
*2014-2015 tuition and fees
32. The Millbrook School
Location: Millbrook, New York
Tuition and fees: $43,755
Enrollment: 284
Trevor Zoo sits right on the Millbrook campus. In fact, it's the only zoo in the country located at a high school. Students can study the animals right on campus with biology teachers.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad31. Groton School
Location: Groton, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $43,990*
Enrollment: 370
Every sixth form (12th grade) student has the chance to be a prefect and lead a dorm of younger students, who benefit from the guidance and mentorship of their older schoolmates. In addition to a rigorous academic program, Groton also excels in its athletics and arts departments.
*2014-2015 tuition and fees
30. The Rivers School
Location: Weston, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $44,180
Enrollment: 490
The Rivers School is known for its prestigious Conservatory Program. The conservatory trains musician-scholars for careers in music and performance after school.
29. Cate School
Location: Carpinteria, California
Tuition and fees: $44,260
Enrollment: 270
Cate's campus, known affectionately as "the Mesa," is two miles from the ocean, 20 miles from Santa Barbara, and close to school-owned land in the beautiful Los Padres National Forest.
28. Loomis Chaffee
Location: Windsor, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $44,395
Enrollment: 650
Loomis Chaffee's wide array of student clubs span all kinds of interests, from the BBQ club to the medical research club to the Zombie Apocalypse club. The school also offers nearly 60 AP and advanced classes for students looking to challenge themselves academically.
27. Noble and Greenough School
Location: Dedham, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $44,400
Enrollment: 603
Noble and Greenough's Putnam Library has over 35,000 print volumes, as well as online and e-book resources that make Kindles, MacBooks, and other academic technology available to students.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad26. The Chapin School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $44,450
Enrollment: 775
Class 10 Chapin girls have the opportunity to go on exchange with St. Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls in Perth, Australia — a recently launched program. Other students can travel to Italy, France, or Spain.
25. The Governor's Academy
Location: Byfield, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $44,500
Enrollment: 400+
The Governor's Academy has a partnership with the Navajo Preparatory School in which students visit each others' schools for a week in a cultural exchange. Students can also participate in trips to China, South Africa, or Mexico.
24. The Browning School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $44,575
Enrollment: 375
The all-boys Browning School takes pride in the continuing closeness and friendships that develop in the classroom. Alumni frequently return for events, and can take advantage of a career networking intranet through the school's alumni web page.
23. Marymount School of New York
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $44,630
Enrollment: 500+
The Catholic school makes religious studies an integral part of the girls' education, but makes sure to broaden the religious curriculum to other world religions as well. Students take yearly retreats to bond and gain in-depth spiritual insight.
21 (TIE). The Hewitt School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $44,700
Enrollment: 525
Students at this all-girls school are divided into two teams named for the school's colors, blue and white, and compete in an annual color war to promote school pride, camaraderie, and a little friendly competition.
Students in grade eight and above incur a one-time charge for a laptop.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad21 (TIE). The Berkshire School
Location: Sheffield, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $44,700
Enrollment: 405
Day students are fully integrated into the Berkshire community along with their boarding counterparts. Every day student is assigned an academic advisor who ensures he or she grows emotionally and academically.
20. Convent of the Sacred Heart
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $44,735
Enrollment: 700
CSH is a part of a 150-plus-schools-strong global network of Catholic girls' schools that provides graduates with a worldwide network of Sacred Heart alumnae.
19. Newton Country Day School
Location: Newton, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $44,740
Enrollment: 411
This Roman Catholic school gives its senior girls the option of conducting an independent study, which involves an off-site internship and oral presentation to teachers about the experience.
18. Peddie School
Location: Hightstown, New Jersey
Tuition and fees: $44,800
Enrollment: 549
Peddie often serves local, seasonal produce at mealtimes. Its Jersey location puts it right in the heart of the state's farm scene, which is reflected in menu options like fresh Jersey tomato bruschetta and seasonal fruit salad.
17. Dexter Southfield
Location: Brookline, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $44,875
Enrollment: 775
Dexter Southfield students are notably eloquent. From the time they enroll, public speaking becomes an important part of their education through poetry readings, debates, and class presentations.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad16. The Cambridge School of Weston
Location: Weston, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $45,050
Enrollment: 335
Students chart their own learning by picking from a 300+ course catalog. Most classes involve hands on learning in lab- or seminar-style settings.
15. The Foxcroft School
Location: Middleburg, Virginia
Tuition and fees: $45,060
Enrollment: 165
Foxcroft girls benefit from a highly rigorous academic curriculum. The weight of the course load and school work students are assigned prepares them for some of the best colleges in the world.
14. Lawrence Academy
Location: Groton, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $45,075
Enrollment: 400
A few years ago, Lawrence Academy's director of technology, who also teaches math, decided to "flip" his classroom by taking a more technological approach to his teaching. He posts YouTube videos for students to watch as homework, freeing up more in-class time to discuss the content and make sure students can ask questions about the things they don't understand.
13. Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $45,100
Enrollment: 1,700
ECFS students get as much of their education out of the classroom as much as in it. This includes community service out in New York City, non-profit internships, and ethics and philosophy classes.
12. Trinity School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $45,130
Enrollment: 960
Global travel is a big part of this Episcopalian school's curriculum. Students can spend time studying in Spain, China, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Italy, and Quebec. Trinity's abroad program recently expanded to India and Kenya.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad11. The Spence School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $45,285
Enrollment: 736
Some girls commute as many as three hours to attend the prestigious Upper East Side school. The trip is well worth it though, as many graduates go on to attend Ivy League schools.
9 (TIE). Kent School
Location: Kent, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $45,640
Enrollment: 565
Kent has 25 different sports teams, including three co-ed teams, for 14 different sports. More than half the student body participates in blue and gray athletics.
9 (TIE). Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $45,640
Enrollment: 1,290
CGPS was founded 10 years before Columbia University, and was originally an all-boys school designed to be a college preparatory for Columbia University. The school is now co-ed.
8. Middlesex School
Location: Concord, Massachusetts
Tuition and fees: $46,165
Enrollment: 375
In the last five years, at least 10 students matriculated into top colleges each year, including Columbia, Harvard, NYU, the University of Chicago, and Vanderbilt, among others.
7. Birch Wathen Lenox School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $46,200
Enrollment: 500
BWL recently rolled out a new STEM Initiative that will ready students for a 21st century job market. New electives classes in robotics, field trips, and guest speakers are being incorporated into the curriculum.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad6. Horace Mann School
Location: Bronx, New York
Tuition and fees: $46,205
Enrollment: 1,779
Horace Mann School owns 83 acres of land in Connecticut that serves as a nature center and laboratory. All students have the opportunity to go up there and study, whether through science class, art class, or overnight team-building trips.
5. Riverdale Country School
Location: Bronx, New York
Tuition and fees: $46,600
Enrollment: 1,140
Riverdale Country School is a leading member of the Green Schools Alliance, which aims to boost sustainability initiatives among schools and school districts internationally. Students are encouraged to undertake projects that study and implement sustainability at Riverdale.
4. The Hotchkiss School
Location: Lakeville, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $46,705
Enrollment: 600
Hotchkiss has a number of unique traditions that students love to celebrate. For example, the Bow Tie Bowl, a trivia contest founded during the tenure of bow tie-wearing Headmaster Robert A. Oden Jr., pins student/faculty teams against each other in a spirited, quiz bowl-type competition.
3. Avenues: The World School
Location: New York, New York
Tuition and fees: $47,650
Enrollment: 1,100
Dubbed "the best education money can buy" by The New York Times, Avenues, in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, opened in 2012 and provides an elite education while making parents partners in the process. The school plans to open 20 or more other Avenues campuses around the world where students can seamlessly transfer if, for example, their parents travel for work. Avenues plans to remain headquartered in New York.
2. The Lawrenceville School
Location: Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Tuition and fees: $48,700
Enrollment: 816
For the first time since 2011, The Lawrenceville School is not the most expensive school private school on our list. Tuition and fees for the Jersey school total just under $49,000 but, according to the school's website, the actual cost of a Lawrenceville education is $72,685 year, which includes intimate seminar-style classroom settings, a sophisticated study abroad program, sustainable dining services, and more.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip Ad1. The Salisbury School
Location: Salisbury, Connecticut
Tuition and fees: $49,092
Enrollment: 310
The Salisbury School is the most expensive private school on our list this year, upending our previous four-year record-holder, The Lawrenceville School.
The all-boys school celebrates a variety of traditions, including twice-weekly sit-down meals with their advisors, hanging holiday greens in the chapel, and lighting a red light in the main building's cupola whenever a varsity team wins a game. A strong sense of community is not the only thing that The Salisbury School has to be proud of — it has a number of rigorous classes such as Mandarin Chinese, entrepreneurial studies, and robotics. Class of 2015 graduates are heading off to Harvard, NYU, and Cornell, among other schools.