just looked up tuition at some of the richest high schools in america and honestly the numbers are wild. like, we're talking $50k-$60k+ per year just for high school. that's more than most people's college tuition.

the expensive ones are mostly in new england - places like phillips academy andover, groton school, st. mark's. all these old prep schools with centuries of history. some of them are boarding schools too, which explains part of the cost, but still.

what got me is the comparison - average private high school in the us runs around $16k a year, but these elite places? loomis chaffee in connecticut is $52k, and the thacher school in california hits $56k. meanwhile in south dakota you can get private school for like $6.5k. the wealth gap in education is actually insane when you see it laid out like this.

most of these schools have financial aid programs, so not everyone paying full sticker price, but still - if you're not loaded, you're not sending your kid to these places. makes you wonder what's actually worth that much money, you know?