By Morgan Hill ’16

In the DC area, around three dozen private high schools are responsible for the education of close to 80,000 students. However, counties surrounding DC, including both Montgomery and Fairfax have repeatedly been named as some of the best school districts in the country. Families who enroll their children in private schools, especially in this area, end up paying excessive sums of money for an education that is of virtually equal caliber to the education provided by public schools.

In 2015, Maryland topped the US News national rankings of public schools while Virginia came in tenth. Some families may chose private schools over public for religious reasons. However, others do so as a matter of status.

Private schools in the area charge tuition that is, on average, almost double than the average of tuition for private schools in other areas of the country. The cost of some private schools in the area rival the cost of tuition at colleges. The cost of attending nearby Good Counsel is nearly double the cost of attending the University of Maryland as an in-state student. The decision to attend one of the superiorly ranked public schools in the DC area, as opposed to attending a private school, is the best decision for students who hope to attend college and will inevitably face hefty college tuition costs in the coming years.