<p>I also think that with the economy not so good, that means that the public schools are facing cuts in an already stretched environment. I know that when I was in high school in Massachusetts it was when they passed “propositin 2 1/2” which limited the amount towns could increase property taxes (major source of school funding) by 2 1/2% each year. There was a MASS exit of kids to private schools (ok, maybe not MASS, but out of my class of about 100 kids, I’d say at least 10 left - 10% is a lot). </p>
<p>In addition, schools like Exeter and Andover have done a terrific job of publicizing their endowments and free tuition. That would not only help their application stats, but other as well as it raises awareness of the availability of financial aid in general at all schools.</p>