Private school

Private schools are privately owned schools that retain the right to select their student body and are funded in whole or in part by charging its students admissions fees. For children older than nursery school age, these schools are generally in five categories.

Private colleges and universities form the most visible of private schools. Such schools are usually much smaller than public universities, and aim to provide a better education than a public universities, with varying degrees of success.

Another category is the preparatory school or "prep school". These are schools which are usually secondary schools (high schools) which are designed to perpare a student for higher education. Often, such schools are very highly selective, accepting only a very small percentage of applicants. Such schools often have very high admissions fees which are used to attract and hire the best teachers, and also used to provide enriched learning environments and services such as libraries, science laboratories, and computers. Graduates of preparatory schools are often actively sought by colleges due to the colleges' confidence that the students will be better educated.

Trade schools are also usually private schools, where applicants can learn skills in a trade which the student intends to make their future occupation. Trade schools can arise in a variety of occupations from beautician schools, up to prestigeous schools for the performing arts.

Religiously affiliated schools form a distinct category of private school. Such schools teach religious lessons, often along side a secular education, to instill religious knowledge and a strong religious identity in the students who attend.

Finally, special assistance schools aim to improve the lives of their students by providing services tailored to very specific needs of individual students. Such schools include tutoring schools and schools to assist the learining of handicapped children.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, privately owned schools are confusingly called Public Schools - see Public school (UK)