The 1,100 freshmen at Dartmouth this fall are drawn from over 800 high schools. The percentage of independent-school graduates at Dartmouth and other elite schools has declined from about 40 percent to about 30 percent in the past decade, the schools report. That's still an impressive number, considering that independents account for only 1.8 percent of the nation's high school students. But the decline clearly has created a public relations problem for many independent schools. One example of the pressure these schools are under comes from a guidance counselor at a northeastern independent school with a national reputation.
Independent schools find themselves in a market with greater demands for accountability.
But they are going to have to move in that direction to justify their tuitions. Still, the demand for independent school education is arguably the strongest it has ever been. Thanks to the baby boom echo, a surging economy, and widespread dissatisfaction with public schools, the number of students taking the independent school admissions test has increased by 15 percent in the past three years alone. The independent schools' oft-deserved reputation for pursuing educational excellence in a safe, caring environment obviously creates a powerful tug on parents. In the midst of these cross-pressures, many independent schools were wary of the U.S. News project.