A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school (usually abbreviated to preparatory school, college prep school, or prep school) is a private secondary school designed to prepare a student for higher education. Some schools will also include a junior, or elementary, school.
North America
There are three types of preparatory schools in the
United States and
Canada. Some have facilities in which students reside (known as
boarding schools); most are day schools, and some boarding schools also admit students who reside locally, but who seek the benefits of prep schools. Some admit students of only one gender; others are
co-educational. Prep schools are highly selective, academically challenging, and largely independent of state and local controls. The existence of such controls, which are a primary defining characteristic of public, government-operated, elementary and secondary schools, have contributed to the support and growth of prep schools, because these controls are widely viewed by preparatory school proponents as an unacceptable burden on the educational process, and on student outcomes such as university matriculation. Where public elementary and secondary schools, by design, teacher and administrator apathy, or simple neglect, are failing many students who wish to
matriculate to
university, prep schools ensure such progression. Preparatory schools are usually deemed expensive when casually compared with the indirect and somewhat hidden taxpayer financing of public elementary and secondary schools. At preparatory schools,
tuition is used to pay excellent teachers and provide enriched learning environments. Preparatory schools offer teachers with
graduate degrees and long
tenures. These schools often have significant
endowments which finance scholarships that allow demographic heterogeneity. Financial aid is also possible.
Preparatory schools place a strong emphasis on sports (see the Independent School Leagues or Southwest Preparatory Conference). University-preparatory education is also often associated with the preppy subculture.
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