The 2018 Best Private High Schools ranking is based on rigorous analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents. Ranking factors includ e SAT / ACT scores, the quality of colleges that students consider, student-teacher ratio, private school ratings, and more. Data sourced from the US Department of Education, Niche users, and the schools directly.

1. Phillips Academy
Address: 180 Main Street Andover, MA 01810
Telephone: (978) 749-4000
Website: andover.edu
Yearly Tuition: $41,900
Boarding (Tuition + Boarding): $53,900
Received Financial Aid: 48%
Average Financial Aid: $39,700
Students: 1,150

Founded in 1778, Phillips Academy, also known as Andover, is an independent, coeducational secondary school with an expansive worldview and a legacy of academic excellence. It is a high school that stands ready to meet, match, and expand the minds and passions of some of the brightest students in the nation and the world. It is a place of great tradition and innovation. Because of its size, Andover offers enormous depth and breadth of activity and opportunity while still feeling like a personal place. With a roster of over 300 courses, 150+ electives, plus independent study and study abroad, the opportunities for growth are limitless. Andover’s “need blind” admission policy is one of the most comprehensive and generous among secondary schools.

2. Phillips Exeter Academy
Address: 20 Main Street Exeter, NH 03833
Telephone: (603) 772-4311
Website: exeter.edu
Yearly Tuition: $38,740
Boarding (Tuition + Boarding): $49,880
Students: 1,085

Learning is Different Here
We invented “Harkness.” It’s about sharing ideas and taking charge of your learning. It’s about collaboration and respect, where every voice is heard.

Serving Others is Second Nature
A spirit of empathy and non sibi, or “not for oneself,” infuses everything we do, from 100+ service clubs and projects to individual actions.

Affordability Counts
With about $22 million in financial aid awarded to 50 percent of our students each year, Exeter is more affordable than many of its peer schools.

3. St. Paul’s School
Address: 325 Pleasant Street Concord, NH 03301
Telephone: (603) 229-4700
Website: sps.edu/page
Yearly Tuition: $55,000
Boarding (Tuition + Boarding): $56,460
Students: 541

Founded in 1856, St. Paul’s School is a highly academic, 100-percent boarding school located 68 miles from Boston, on a historic campus of 2,000 wooded acres in New Hampshire.

The school’s 530 students benefit from wonderful facilities including the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science, Friedman Community Center, a newly renovated Fine Arts Building, a 95,000-square-foot Athletic & Fitness Center, and dual ice rinks.

SPS awarded more than $11.2 million in financial aid during the 2017-18 academic year alone. We are committed to making our school an affordable option for families.

4. The Lawrenceville School
Address: 2500 Main St Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Telephone: (609) 896-0408
Website: lawrenceville.org
Yearly Tuition: $51,440
Boarding (Tuition + Boarding): $62,190
Students: 822

From its founding in 1810 as the Maidenhead Academy, what is today known as The Lawrenceville School has maintained two defining characteristics: a willingness to explore and adopt the best practices in education as they have evolved and, at the same time, a commitment to maintaining traditions that continue to resonate with students. From the first Head Master, Rev. Isaac VanArsdale Brown, who introduced then-novel foreign language study and routine exercise to the students of the 1820s, through today, the School has always striven to provide students with the highest quality of education as understood at the time.

Through House and Harkness, Lawrenceville challenges a diverse community of promising young people to lead lives of learning, integrity, and high purpose. Our mission is to inspire the best in each to seek the best for all.

5. Choate Rosemary Hall
Address: 333 Christian Street Wallingford, CT 06492
Telephone: (203) 697-2000
Website: choate.edu
Yearly Tuition: $43,580
Boarding (Tuition + Boarding): $56,600
Received Financial Aid: 33%
Average Financial Aid: $45,462
Students: 859

Our students stand out for their desire and drive for knowledge, their passion, their creativity, their energy, and their commitment to service. Along the way, our students are guided by passionate educators who are excited about their craft and who are energized by what they do every day. Choate is a place where, if you have a great idea, you can find the resources and a kindred spirit to help you bring your idea to fruition.

Over the past 126 years we have had the privilege of knowing and nurturing over 17,000 graduates, and they’ve made us proud of the remarkable and distinctive lives they’ve chosen to live. Choate alumni are leaders, innovators, catalysts, and true originals. Their unique way of seeing the world reflects our focus on the Life of the Mind: we aim to foster critical and independent thinking, deep intellectual curiosity, exploration, and a lifelong love of learning in everything we do.

6. Lakeside School
Address: 14050 1st Ave Ne Seattle, WA 98125
Telephone: (206) 440-2716
Website: lakesideschool.org
Yearly Tuition: $32,000
Students: 838

Mission and Values

The mission of Lakeside School is to develop in intellectually capable young people the creative minds, healthy bodies, and ethical spirits needed to contribute wisdom, compassion, and leadership to a global society.

We provide a rigorous and dynamic academic program through which effective educators lead students to take responsibility for learning.

We are committed to sustaining a school in which individuals representing diverse cultures and experiences instruct one another in the meaning and value of community and in the joy and importance of lifelong learning.

7. Deerfield Academy
Address: 7 Boyden Lane Deerfield, MA 01342
Telephone: (413) 772-0241
Website: deerfield.edu
Yearly Tuition: $43,750
Boarding (Tuition + Boarding): $60,480
Received Financial Aid: 35%
Average Financial Aid: $35,000
Students: 635

Deerfield is a place of modern, dynamic scholarship. Through an ever-evolving curriculum, Deerfield offers tools and teachers that encourage curiosity and entrepreneurial leadership in its diverse student body. Students’ grit and determination are fortified with the support and collaboration of other scholars, as they examine the world’s most pressing problems, together. Deerfield’s program is enhanced by an abundance of events, clubs, invited speakers, global trips, and community-wide activities—all in support of a rigorous yet collaborative, hardworking yet joyful student experience.

8. Harvard-Westlake School
Address: 3700 Coldwater Canyon Ave Studio City, CA 91604
Telephone: (818) 980-6692
Website: hw.com
Yearly Tuition: $35,900
Students: 1,593

Harvard-Westlake’s mission statement highlights the four core values that define the Harvard-Westlake experience.

Harvard-Westlake strives to be a diverse and inclusive community united by the joyful pursuit of educational excellence, living and learning with integrity, and purpose beyond ourselves.

9. Horace Mann School
Address: 231 West 246th St. Bronx, NY 10471
Telephone: (718) 432-4000
Website: horacemann.org
Yearly Tuition: $48,600
Boarding (Tuition + Boarding): $60,480
Received Financial Aid: 35%
Average Financial Aid: $35,000
Students: 1,694

Horace Mann School is a coeducational, college preparatory independent day school for students from Nursery – Grade 12. HM seeks to stretch the imagination, intellect, and perception of its students while developing the moral characteristics that impart identity and purpose. In addition to its campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx, NY, the School also owns the John Dorr Nature Laboratory, an outdoor education facility in Washington, CT. The School enrolls 1,790 students representing 155 ZIP codes, with 40% self-identified students of color. For 2017-18, 16% of the students receive Financial Aid.

10. The College Preparatory School
Address: 6100 Broadway Oakland, CA 94618
Telephone: (510) 652-0111
Website: college-prep.org/page
Yearly Tuition: $42,020
Received Financial Aid: 24%
Average Financial Aid: $26,500
Students: 363

College Prep is a home for ideas, discovery, and engagement—intellectual pursuits that our students treasure. Our academic offerings are buoyed by our warm culture and welcoming, verdant campus located in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. In and out of the classroom, students explore and extend their abilities, test their ideas, question assumptions, grapple with moral issues, and acquire the skills to be positive and productive citizens. Led by exceptional and caring teachers, mentors, and coaches, our students are encouraged to grow into their best selves.