# What Would a School Voucher Buy? The Real Cost of Private Schools 

March 26, 1996 • Briefing Paper No. 25 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) and R. Morris Barrett 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/bp025.pdf) 

American schools are failing because they are organized according to a bureaucratic, monopolistic model. A school voucher of $3,000 per student per year would give more families the option of sending their children to non-government schools. However, many people believe that such a small amount could not possibly cover tuition at a private school; they may be thinking of such costly schools as Dalton, Andover, and Exeter and concluding that all private schools cost in excess of $10,000 a year.

In fact, Education Department figures show that the average private elementary school tuition in America is less than $2,500. The average tuition for all private schools, elementary and secondary, is $3,116, or less than half of the cost per pupil in the average public school, $6,857. A survey of private schools in Indianapolis, Jersey City, San Francisco, and Atlanta shows that there are many options available to families with $3,000 to spend on a child’s education. Even more options would no doubt appear if all parents were armed with $3,000 vouchers.

[![Media Name: bp025.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/serial_cover_phone/public/pubs/covers/bp025.jpg?itok=rGd4hA-6)](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/bp025.pdf) 

### Download This Briefing Paper

##### What Would a School Voucher Buy? The Real Cost of Private Schools 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/bp025.pdf) 

##### About the Authors 

David Boaz is executive vice president of the Cato Institute and the editor of Liberating Schools: Education in the Inner City. R. Morris Barrett is a writer in New York. 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

[ 

Download PDF 

](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/bp025.pdf)