New York City private school tuition has soared past $70,000 per year – as desperate parents increasingly flee the lagging public school system.
The Spence School; the Dalton School; the Nightingale-Bamford School, famously the inspiration for “Gossip Girl”; and at least five other Big Apple private schools charged more than $70,000 in tuition for the 2026-27 year, according to a Bloomberg analysis of school disclosures.
Avenues in Chelsea – where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ daughter Suri Cruise previously attended – topped the list with eye-watering tuition of $75,300, up $3,000 from the previous year and more expensive than many elite colleges, according to the report.
The list includes some of the most exclusive schools in the country. Mick Jagger’s daughter Jade Jagger attended Spence before transferring to an English boarding school, while famous Dalton School alumni include Anderson Cooper, Chevy Chase, Sean Lennon and Claire Danes.
A number of schools outside the top seven priciest ones still charged jaw-dropping tuition, with Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School charging $69,960 and Horace Mann School, a cool $68,700.
Tuition fees at 15 private city schools jumped a median of 4.7% – outpacing the New York metro area’s 3.4% inflation rate as of December and national inflation figures, according to the most recently available government data.
It’s a sharp increase from a median NYC tuition of $39,900 in 2014 – but schools have argued the rising fees are necessary to cover higher costs, particularly teacher salaries, and offer more financial aid to struggling families.
Meanwhile, New York City public schools shed another 22,000 students in 2025, with enrollment plummeting 2.4% – the steepest decline in four years, according to the city’s Education Department.
Eye-popping tuition costs are squeezing even the Big Apple’s highest earners, but for some families, “the numbers are what the numbers are, and they’re looking for a stellar education for their children and they’re willing to pay what’s necessary to secure that experience,” Barbara Scott, executive director of nonprofit Parents League of New York, told Bloomberg.
That’s especially true for New York families fearful of changes coming to the city’s public school system following the election of socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, according to Emily Glickman, who runs Abacus Guide Educational Consulting.
The Mamdani administration has assumed control of New York City’s $43 billion school system, including 150,000 staffers and nearly 900,000 students – facing worsening challenges like chronic absenteeism, dismal reading and math scores and falling enrollment.
More than one in three New York City public school students – or roughly 300,000 kids – were “chronically absent” in 2024, meaning they missed 10 or more days, according to the most recently available figure from a Manhattan Institute analysis.
NYC schoolkids saw some gains in reading and math test scores last year. But more than 40% still scored below the proficiency targets in each subject.
Only 42% of third graders showed proficiency in reading. It’s a crucial figure, since students who don’t read well by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school, according to a widely-cited study.
Glickman told Bloomberg she has noticed more families looking into private schools following Mamdani’s promises to shake up the educational system, “whether they can afford it, or barely afford it.”
The 34-year-old mayor has floated axing the gifted and talented track for kindergartners.
Proponents of the program have argued getting rid of the classes would eliminate opportunities for thousands of students from low- and middle-income families.
He has also discussed making class sizes smaller by hiring more than 10,000 new teachers – which would require up to $700 million in fresh funding.
So far, his administration has focused on outreach for the city’s free preschool programs, which received more than 50,000 applications in just two weeks.
Noni Thomas López, head of school at Poly Prep Country Day School – which charged $71,852 in grade 12 tuition this year – told Bloomberg the school’s board of trustees sets rates based on “careful review of the school’s operating needs,” including financial aid.
The school provided about 22% of its student body with more than $14.5 million in aid this year, according to its website.
Tara Powers, head of communications at Avenues New York, told Bloomberg the school allocated more than $20 million in financial aid to more than 20% of its students this year.
Tuition can also cover the costs of learning supplies, school meals and extracurricular programs like field trips – which can pack a punch.
“We’re not talking about going to the Statue of Liberty or the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” Scott, who runs a nonprofit that helps parents apply to private schools, told the outlet.
“We are talking about going to that eighth grade trip to Washington for three days, or that trip to the Freedom Trail in Boston when you’re a sixth grader, or the ninth grade trip to Europe.”
Most parents budget for an annual tuition increase of 3% to 5%, according to Robin Aronow, who runs School Search NYC and helps guide parents through the admissions process.
But there has been “definite sticker shock for some families” this year, said Sharon Decker, an education consultant who helps families apply to private schools.
Her firm, The Admissions Plan, has seen more families asking about financial aid and increased interest in Catholic and Jewish schools, which typically charge less than independent private institutions, she told Bloomberg.
