Harrow in U.S.?

Prep School Admissions Prep School Cafe
43

Good to hear your son is loving it.

How many students are there, and in what grades? What is the split between day/boarding, and of the boarders, how many are NY residents, how many ex-NY, and how many from abroad? It’s hard to start a school from scratch, and trying to understanding how they are building this up.

There must be a lot of money behind Harrow US, as it likely won’t make money for years. But as shown on another thread, boarding schools are expensive to run and costs exceed tuition (and fund themselves from donations and returns from endowment). How is Harrow US going to make money for its owners, without donations, while still providing students something comparable (or even superior) to US private schools (day and boarding)?

44

I want to hear about the hats.

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45

Heard the radio ad today while I was driving. I thought it was satire (either a promo for SNL, a new standup routine for Ricky Gervais?) until I realized it was genuine. The key selling point appears to be the “plummy” British accent (BBC British, not Manchester or Leeds).

Fascinating.

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46

From Bloomberg (November 7, 2025)

Harrow, USA

Harrow is one of Britain’s most established — and profitable — providers of overseas education.

The west London private school, where alumni such as Winston Churchill were educated, opened its maiden international offshoot in Bangkok in 1998. It’s now launching its first US campus. The Long Island, NY institution is licensed to use Harrow’s name and badge, though it’s owned, funded and operated by India’s Amity Education Group.

Amity bought the 170-acre campus almost ten years ago with a different goal in mind. According to a press release at the time, the site was to be used as “a platform for research collaboration” as well as education. The Indian firm had also planned to buy two for-profit colleges, though these deals were dropped following criticism from US officials.

Maura Healey, then-attorney general in Massachusetts, told the Associated Press in 2016 she was “very very skeptical” of the group’s ability to provide education to US students given its lack of track record in the country.

Still in possession of the Long Island site, Amity shifted its focus and announced the tie-up with Harrow in 2021. It’s also opened a Harrow outpost in Bengaluru, India.

The organization has faced scrutiny at some of its schools over the years. In 2005, India’s educational regulator revoked the license of an Amity business school over unapproved courses, opaque admissions, and inflated fees.

In 2018, Amity disaffiliated with three institutions at GGSIPU in Delhi amid protests and a lawsuit over the suicide of a student who said he’d been prevented from taking his exams.

“When selecting potential partners, we engage expert independent advisers to conduct thorough due diligence,” a spokesperson for Harrow said in an emailed statement. All partnerships “are subject to ongoing review to ensure they consistently uphold our expectations.”

Like many schools expanding abroad, Harrow charges fees that vary by location. Its first US site is charging up to $75,000 a year for boarding students — that’s slightly cheaper than the UK school’s roughly £63,735 annual cost (or around $83,500 at current exchange rates) but a pricier option than tuition and board at Harrow in Hong Kong, which can be as much as HK$369,775 (around $47,560).

Matthew Sipple, principal of the new US school, said in a previous Bloomberg News story that the expansion is “not about the finances — it’s about creating a lasting legacy.”

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47

I just don’t understand why someone would risk their child’s 1 chance at an education at that cost unless they had no options and were desperate.

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48

Latest news reports show that Harrow Long Island only has 19 students across four grades. This doesn’t seem like a sustainable business model. How do they afford to pay teacher salaries, rent, maintain facilities, buy sports equipment, renovate old buildings, etc.? One of the issues seems that they’re not able to accept any international students, which was the school’s target market.

“Sipple said Harrow New York has not been able to accept international students who don’t already have a valid visa to study in the United States because the boarding school is still awaiting finalization of its SEVIS certification, which will allow students who may not have ever been to America to apply for the school.”

49

Almost anyone could have seen that their business model wasn’t going to work. They are selling something that few with any research skills are buying. This just sped up their demise.

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50

NY Private School Startup Seeks Edge by Giving 42% Fee Discount

  • Harrow International School New York is dropping the cost of admission by 42% next year to attract more local pupils.
  • The school will lower tuition to $50,544 for day students and give a $15,000 discount for each of their first two years.
  • Principal Matthew Sipple has lowered his enrollment targets, now aiming for 50 students in the 2026-2027 school year and 120 the year after.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-10/ny-private-school-startup-seeks-edge-by-giving-42-fee-discount?sref=Ow2ZoqvJ

51

I feel like making it much cheaper, for a place that is supposed to be a super luxury good, completely ruins its brand….I thought it was doomed to start, but part of the allure of this place is supposed to be is exclusivity, I would have assumed (only half paying attention). To make it cheap is not making it attractive to the sort of people it needs long term, I assume? I get they want it to be a stopgap, but I don’t know … (Note, I have no clue what else they could do! they are between a rock and hard place)

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52

Every affluent town has kids who have had to (or opted to) leave a private school- whether boarding or day, and then floundered (or didn’t try) the local public option. Or vice-versa. These are typically families who are price-sensitive– not billionaires, just upper middle class folks who bought a home in a high rent district and are trying to do right by their kids. Sometimes the kid has learning issues which haven’t been appropriately addressed. Sometimes it’s behavioral. Sometimes substances- at a school with a “one strike and you’re out” policy.

So cutting tuition for locals makes sense– if there is an untapped market of families who were priced out with the original model, but would be able to swing it at the lower ticket price.

Are there enough of these kids? Time will tell. I know families who are one step away from liquidating their IRA (and the early withdrawal penalty) to pay for a wilderness-type boarding school (mega pricey option) so having a close to home “last stop on the educational railroad” option would be seen as attractive AND a cost savings.

53

If there is enough untapped people who care about the discount enough to risk an unknown school AND this reputation hit doesn’t hurt them long term, it will work.

I am dubious.

IME private schools’ applicant pools don’t really work that way - there are lots of people that are not that price sensitive, and a lot of people on a lot of financial aid. I don’t think this price point is cheap enough to change that it is still a LOT of money. If they dropped it to 15K maybe.

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54

There’s no risk of an unknown school for a kid who is a year away from a Wilderness Academy and its brand of “behavior modification”. At full price, Harrow was a “maybe if we are desperate” option. At a discount, it becomes part of the decision matrix.

55

fair in this situation, I was comparing people choosing between this and a mediocre day school option.

Is that really who they are accepting? Kids with serious behavioral needs..Maybe I need read more closely..they are really going to go bust on that model.

56

Yep. They’re not going to make it with their “elite prep school model”. To stay alive, they now need to be “the school of last resort” for the local kids. At a discount no less. Which goes against the “pay a ridiculous price for something that looks prestigious enough to rub shoulders with the kids of the rich and famous” they were trying to sell to the international crowd. They were never going to be the elite school they sold themselves as, and now they are circling the drain. In straw boater hats.

There was a time they might have kept themselves afloat for a few years by marketing themselves to the Asian clientele, but with nearly a dozen Asian locations, they’d only be pulling from their own schools. And with the current visa situation, is that even an option?

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57

Those Asian schools are merely licensees of the Harrow name, and are probably owned by completely different entities. So they aren’t pulling from themselves but from other schools called Harrow.

58

Yeah, I’m not convinced that troubled kids + international students is a viable business proposition long term.

I also hope that Harrow U.K. has the right to revoke the license for their name after a few years. This outpost has potential to significantly damage their brand internationally.

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59

Having enrolled my son, I did a lot research and went through the process. Yes, the Asian schools are owned by other entities, as well as Harrow New York. However, all Harrow Schools must follow a lengthy “Harrow Standards” manual and are inspected regularly by the original Harrow.

60

After enrolling my son, we went through the full application process, including the Harrow Day and a Student Shadow Day. We were interviewed at length about academics, behavior, personality, and other areas—I assume to assess whether he was a good fit for the school.

Having now watched my son complete his first three-quarters of the year, I’ve seen him thrive. He has made many friends from the Hamptons, NYC, and the Gold Coast, and many of the families are quite affluent. In the past seven months, the worst behavioral issue we’ve heard about is typical “mean girl” attitude from a small clique of girls.

Harrow New York does not yet have international students, as the school is still working on obtaining SEVIS approval—the required governmental authorization to issue student visas.

Recently, my son has seen several students from the Hamptons and NYC attending shadow days, some of whom already knew one another. All of this has convinced me that the assumption the school is full of “troubled kids” couldn’t be further from the truth.

My son loves the small class sizes, the outstanding teachers (easily the best he’s ever had), and the genuine one-on-one attention he receives. It truly feels like a very special small community—one that will likely retain that intimate feel for the next few years as the school grows.

In time, I believe Harrow New York will benefit from the strong brand recognition already established by the Asian Harrow schools. The school simply needs to position itself as another attractive option in the Asian market, offering families the opportunity to study in New York and use the experience as a gateway to U.S. universities.

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61

Glad your son is having such a good experience!

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