<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We found that when you get past the sticker shock on the top private schools, and start to factor these expenses against the all-in costs of a new home in areas like Greenwhich<\/a> or Westport<\/a>, one of those $50,000 top-tier private schools might even look like a bargain<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n We looked at college \u201ccommitment\u201d data from each of the schools in Fairfield County, compared it to their class size, and then figured out the odds of a grad going to an elite college or university. You can see the full list of the Connecticut schools that give you the best odds of getting into an Ivy League school here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, we looked at median single-family home value for each of these areas (this data is from January 2024), estimated the costs of insurance and taxes, and finally broke it down again by assuming 20% down and the going 30-year fixed mortgage rate for someone with good credit (as of Feb 29, 2024). <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, we looked at which was the better value: paying to live in an area with great public schools, or sending your kids to private school and living in an area with more affordable homes in Fairfield County (a blended average of Bethel<\/a>, Danbury<\/a>, Norwalk<\/a>, and Fairfield<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n All our kids are brilliant and will no doubt go anywhere and do anything. But\u2026 with an economist\u2019s hat on, when you sort by the \u201ccommitment rate\u201d at the top schools (i.e., it doesn\u2019t count all the kids who might be on a waitlist somewhere and haven\u2019t locked in a favorite school just yet), Sacred Heart in Greenwich<\/a> (an all-girls school), rises right to the top of the list by a pretty wide margin. And, since you don\u2019t have to pay a small fortune to live somewhere like Greenwich, the 4-year total cost is actually lower<\/em> than sending your kids to public schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The same thing holds true for several of the other top private high schools in the area, like Greens Farm Academy and King School. But the private school edge starts to diminish a bit when you see the success of some public schools like Weston High School\u2014roughly comparable rate of success as a school like Greenwich Country Day, at about $30,000 less cost over four years. And some of the lower cost private schools like Immaculate High School, St. Joseph\u2019s, and Fairfield Prep have no real advantage at all. You\u2019d be better off living in an area zoned for Fairfield Warde or saving a lot more and living in Danbury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s another way to look at the same data. Where the green line jumps above the bars, you\u2019re looking at a great financial option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, let\u2019s start gambling a bit with our kids\u2019 future\u2014what schools rise to the top in this balance of \u201cmost likely to get into an elite college\u201d and \u201cmost cost effective for the family.\u201d We did some weighted scoring to identify the top-five high schools in three different scenarios: <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Or, to think about this a different way: let\u2019s say we wanted to buy some 1-in-100 odds raffle tickets to get our kid into a college like Brown or University of North Carolina. How much would each high school charge for one of these elite college raffle tickets?<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what we\u2019re looking at in the chart below. If you want your kid to have a 1% chance of getting into an elite college, here\u2019s what it\u2019ll cost you over four years of high school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n To put it in terms your kids will understand: if you were to go to Bethel High School, and you wanted a 1% chance of getting into an elite college, it\u2019ll cost you about the same as buying 12,000 Stanley Tumblers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n We know, choosing the right community for you and your family is about a lot more than the schools. And a great school is about a lot more than which college you can get into. And not every kid gets into one of these elite high schools\u2014they can be as challenging to get into as some of these universities. And even incredibly smart and talented kids with all the extra-curriculars and everything else still don\u2019t get into some of these elite colleges. And the elite colleges themselves aren\u2019t the only places you can get a great education (though, as Forbes points out<\/a>, they do help you earn more money). And we\u2019ll set aside questions of access and equity and admissions practices for another time (lots<\/em> to unpack there).<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you want to give your kids the best chance of success later in life, you\u2019ll want to love and accept and support them in all the things they want to do, but maybe consider alternatives to the \u201ctop rated\u201d school districts. The math might work out for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\nHow we crunched the numbers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So, what\u2019s the best deal?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
High School<\/th> Housing
Cost*<\/th>Tuition
Cost<\/th>Elite College
Commit Rate<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>Sacred Heart Greenwich<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $54,700<\/td> 38.7%<\/td><\/tr> Greens Farm Academy<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $53,780<\/td> 27.6%<\/td><\/tr> King School (Stamford)<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $47,630<\/td> 23.6%<\/td><\/tr> Greenwich Country Day<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $54,980<\/td> 16.7%<\/td><\/tr> St Lukes (New Canaan)<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $54,960<\/td> 16.6%<\/td><\/tr> Darien HS<\/td> $142,989<\/td> <\/td> 10.8%<\/td><\/tr> Weston HS<\/td> $87,993<\/td> <\/td> 9.3%<\/td><\/tr> Greenwich HS<\/td> $163,124<\/td> <\/td> 8.9%<\/td><\/tr> Staples HS (Westport)<\/td> $135,956<\/td> <\/td> 8.4%<\/td><\/tr> New Canaan HS<\/td> $145,280<\/td> <\/td> 7.3%<\/td><\/tr> Fairfield Warde HS<\/td> $53,578<\/td> <\/td> 4.2%<\/td><\/tr> Fairfield Ludlowe HS<\/td> $82,166<\/td> <\/td> 3.8%<\/td><\/tr> Wilton HS<\/td> $82,400<\/td> <\/td> 3.7%<\/td><\/tr> Westhill HS (Stamford)<\/td> $63,534<\/td> <\/td> 2.8%<\/td><\/tr> St Josephs (Trumball)<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $18,750<\/td> 2.2%<\/td><\/tr> Fairfield High Prep School<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $25,150<\/td> 2.0%<\/td><\/tr> Stamford HS<\/td> $62,293<\/td> <\/td> 1.9%<\/td><\/tr> Danbury HS<\/td> $38,533<\/td> <\/td> 1.2%<\/td><\/tr> Immaculate High School<\/td> $46,451<\/td> $20,005<\/td> 1.2%<\/td><\/tr> Norwalk HS<\/td> $50,267<\/td> <\/td> 1.2%<\/td><\/tr> Bethel HS<\/td> $43,425<\/td> <\/td> 0.4%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table> ![\"cost](\"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screenshot-2024-03-04-at-8.29.51\u202fPM-1-1024x629.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nRank<\/th> If you mostly want
the lowest cost<\/th>If you mostly want
the best colleges<\/th>If you want
a balance of both<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>1<\/td> Danbury HS<\/td> Sacred Heart<\/td> Sacred Heart<\/td><\/tr> 2<\/td> Bethel HS<\/td> Greens Farm<\/td> Greens Farm<\/td><\/tr> 3<\/td> Norwalk HS<\/td> King School<\/td> King School<\/td><\/tr> 4<\/td> Fairfield Warde<\/td> Greenwich
Country Day<\/td>Danbury HS<\/td><\/tr> 5<\/td> Sacred Heart<\/td> St. Luke’s<\/td> Fairfield Warde<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tomo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/tomo-logo-horizontal.png\"){kind=logo}
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSo, is it better to go public or private? <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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