Private school

A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a public school. Private schools are not dependent upon national or local government for their funding. Unless privately owned, they typically have a board of governors and have a system of governance that ensures their independent operation.

Private schools retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students for tuition, rather than relying on taxation through public (government) funding; at some private schools students may be eligible for a scholarship, lowering this tuition fee, dependent on a student's talents or abilities (e.g., sports scholarship, art scholarship, academic scholarship), need for financial aid, or tax credit scholarships that might be available. Roughly one in 10 U.S. families have chosen to enroll their children in private school for the past century.

Some private schools are associated with a particular religious denomination or religion, such as Roman Catholicism, various branches of Protestantism, or Judaism. Although private schools may have a religious affiliation, the precise use of the term excludes parochial (and other) schools if there is a financial dependence upon, or governance subordinate to, outside (religious) organizations. These definitions generally apply equally to both primary and secondary education.

Types

In the United Kingdom and several other Commonwealth countries including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, the use of the term is generally restricted to primary and secondary educational levels, and it is almost never used of universities or other tertiary institutions. Private education in North America covers the whole gamut of educational activity, ranging from pre-school to tertiary level institutions.