Elite boarding schools are not only highly selective, they're also well funded — some boast endowments even larger than those of prominent colleges.
Business Insider recently published a list of the most elite boarding schools in America. The ranking was based on three metrics weighted equally: endowment, acceptance rate, and average SAT score, primarily using data from BoardingSchoolReview.com, a website that collects information on boarding schools directly from the institutions. Here, we've re-ranked the schools based solely on endowment to determine which are the country's richest.
These funds, raised from generous donors and alumni, support schools' day-to-day operations and help provide financial aid to students. At Phillips Exeter Academy — the No. 1 school on our list with an endowment of $1.15 billion — nearly half of the student body benefits from financial aid.
Behind Exeter, Phillips Academy Andover took the No. 2 spot on the list with an endowment of $1 billion.
Read on to see the rest of the 20 richest boarding schools in America.
Additional reporting by Andy Kiersz.
20. The Hill School
Location: Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Endowment: $153 million
Enrollment: 515
The Hill School primes students for "college, careers, and life" through a traditional liberal-arts education, formal dress, a student-written honor code, regular family-style meals, and several signature programs. Nearly 80% of students board at The Hill School, originally founded as "The Family Boarding School" for its pioneering decision to house students and faculty under the same roof to forge connection, communication, and understanding.
19. The Loomis Chaffee School
Location: Windsor, Connecticut
Endowment: $180 million
Enrollment: 650
Above all, The Loomis Chaffee School is committed to providing top-notch academics and shaping students into their best selves. To enhance the academic experience, the school offers writing workshops, study-abroad opportunities, guided-research projects, and experiential-learning programs such as internships, volunteer work, and scholarly competitions.
18. St. Andrew's School, Delaware
Location: Middletown, Delaware
Endowment: $195 million
Enrollment: 310
Technology is intertwined with the curriculum at St. Andrew's School. Students use blogs to document their progress in physics, musicians send recordings to their instructors for feedback, and teachers keep in touch with their pupils through learning-management software.
St. Andrew's students also gain entrance to elite colleges. New York University, Wesleyan University, and Davidson College topped the list of the most popular choices from the last four years.
17. Episcopal High School
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Endowment: $214 million
Enrollment: 435
In addition to more than 40 honors and Advanced Placement classes, Episcopal High School offers a host of interdisciplinary courses that explore the complexities of subjects like global energy and ethics.
EHS graduates head on to top-notch colleges, with popular choices including Washington & Lee University, Hamilton College, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
16. Cranbrook Schools
Location: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Endowment: $217 million
Enrollment: 799
Cranbrook Schools' campus is a designated National Historic Landmark that's comprised of a lower, middle, and upper school that each prepare students for their next academic stage. Upper-school students are in college-prep mode, where they practice critical-thinking skills, take on leadership roles, and interact with other cultures. Five full-time college-admission counselors work closely with colleges and universities across the country to forge relationships between Cranbrook students and admissions representatives.
15. The Taft School
Location: Watertown, Connecticut
Endowment: $236 million
Enrollment: 594
The Taft School's volunteer program, sustainability initiatives, and Center for Global Leadership and Service support the school's motto: "Not be served but to serve." Students have the opportunity to graduate with a "Service Diploma," which asserts a second-language proficiency and community-service experiences abroad. In the last five years, graduates matriculated to top schools, including George Washington University, Georgetown, and Cornell.
13. (TIE) Mercersburg Academy
Location: Mercersburg, Pennsylvania
Endowment: $244 million
Enrollment: 440
Over the last four years, the most popular colleges attended by Mercersburg Academy graduates have included elite schools like Carnegie Mellon, Lehigh University, and the US Naval Academy. Throughout its history, the school has produced seven Rhodes Scholars, three Medal of Honor recipients, and a Nobel Laureate.
13. (TIE) Middlesex School
Location: Concord, Massachusetts
Endowment: $244 million
Enrollment: 384
The Middlesex campus was designed by the famed Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm and is just 20 miles outside Boston, among some of the country's most historic towns. The school balances personal exploration and demanding academics — an Introduction to Mindfulness course that teaches pupils how to reduce stress and improve relationships is required for all new students. Notable alumni include former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld and Kevin Systrom, the cofounder of Instagram.
12. Milton Academy
Location: Milton, Massachusetts
Endowment: $268 million
Enrollment: 700
Students at Milton Academy narrow down their schedules from a wide range of courses, choosing between everything from Latin literature to computer programming to jazz improvisation. Outside the classroom, students can also participate in community-service and outdoor programs like rock climbing, kayaking, and camping.
11. Woodberry Forest School
Location: Woodberry Forest, Virginia
Endowment: $315 million
Enrollment: 393
In 1889, Woodberry Forest School was founded on the former farm of President James Madison's family. The all-boys campus — where 100% of students board — is in Central Virginia, a few hours' drive from the nation's capital. The boys at Woodberry are taught that honor and moral integrity are the highest virtues a man can possess. To that end, the honor system is the foundation of the Woodberry experience.
10. Choate Rosemary Hall
Location: Wallingford, Connecticut
Endowment: $318 million
Enrollment: 865
Choate Rosemary Hall celebrated its 125th anniversary last year by ramping up its commitment to innovation. The school, which requires its students to bring iPads to class, dedicated a new mathematics and computer-science building that's LEED Gold-certified and home to Choate's award-winning Robotics Team and i.d.Lab — a tech-packed facility for creative thinking and innovation. There's also the Kohler Environmental Center, where juniors and seniors can enroll in the yearlong Environmental Immersion Program that combines sustainable living, study, and independent research.
9. The Lawrenceville School
Location: Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Endowment: $320 million
Enrollment: 816
The Lawrenceville School is defined by its House System: a living situation for boarders and day students where each of the 18 dormitories represents a subcommunity informed by grade and gender. The houses often compete for academic and athletic honors and have individual traditions like sports games and community-service events. Lawrenceville is committed to its Green Campus Initiative, which includes a 30-acre solar farm that covers 90% of the school's energy needs.
8. Culver Academies
Location: Culver, Indiana
Endowment: $322 million
Enrollment: 811
The Culver Academies — Culver Military Academy, Culver Summer Camps, and Culver Girls Academy — awards 48% of its student body $10.7 million in financial aid. Student-run developmental-leadership programs have been at the center of the school since its inception in 1894. Ninety-two percent of students board at the lakeside campus, which also has an enduring, nationally competing horsemanship program.
7. Peddie School
Location: Hightstown, New Jersey
Endowment: $326 million
Enrollment: 542
An average class size of 12 and a 6-to-1 student-teacher ratio allows Peddie School to give each student individual attention and academic support. It pays off: The most popular college destinations among recent Peddie graduates include prestigious schools like New York University, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and Cornell.
6. Groton School
Location: Groton, Massachusetts
Endowment: $350 million
Enrollment: 381
At Groton, students must take at least five full-credit courses per semester, including classes in expository writing, ethics, and foreign language. More than just academics, Groton also prioritizes its sense of community, a value emphasized by traditions such as morning Chapel Talk, daily check-ins, surprise holidays, and the school birthday dinner.
5. The Hotchkiss School
Location: Lakeville, Connecticut
Endowment: $362 million
Enrollment: 598
Students at The Hotchkiss School hail from all over — 35 states and 34 countries, in fact — and can venture back into the world for a semester abroad in France, Italy, China, Spain, or one of Hotchkiss' domestic destinations. During school breaks, students can also participate in shorter, faculty-led tours of places such as Canada, Cuba, Ecuador, Kenya, and elsewhere.
4. Deerfield Academy
Location: Deerfield, Massachusetts
Endowment: $532 million
Enrollment: 638
Deerfield Academy provides 35% of its student body with $8 million in financial aid annually. In addition to participating academically, students are required to be involved in a cocurricular activity like community service, dance, theater, or sports. More than one-fourth of Deerfield's 330-acre campus is comprised of athletic fields, tennis courts, a fitness center, and a 5,900-square-foot boathouse along the Connecticut River.
3. St. Paul's School
Location: Concord, New Hampshire
Endowment: $551 million
Enrollment: 541
During their time at St. Paul's School, students engage with class material through hands-on assignments and collaborative projects, including experimentation in laboratories and exploration outside the classroom. Graduates of St. Paul's then go on to top-tier universities, with Georgetown, Brown, Columbia, and Harvard included as some of the most popular choices over the past four years.
2. Phillips Academy Andover
Location: Andover, Massachusetts
Endowment: $1 billion
Enrollment: 1,141
A total of 835 students board at Phillips Academy Andover, the oldest incorporated boarding school in the US, now in its 238th year. The school offers students a rigorous academic curriculum — and access to two on-campus museums — in preparation for college. Over the last three years, dozens of graduates went on to attend all eight Ivy League schools with the most at UPenn, Harvard, and Yale. Former US Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are alumni.
1. Phillips Exeter Academy
Location: Exeter, New Hampshire
Endowment: $1.15 billion
Enrollment: 1,085
At Phillips Exeter Academy, all classes are taught seminar-style, with students gathered around circular tables. The strategy, known as the Harkness method, originated at Exeter and is the school's signature — and students love it. According to the school, pupils come to class prepared and ready to discuss, and engage with the material on a deeper level than could be achieved through traditional lectures.
Exeter counts Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg among its notable alumni.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyztcKhnKysXZe8or7DoqWgZaOYtbC7y6xkoqZdlrqmvsicmGZqYGaDbn4%3D