America’s top prep schools can cost $1 million per family

Going to a top private school could cost an American family with two children nearly $1 million—or $500,000 per child. But short of that, sending your kids to any better-quality school—even a public school—can considerably increase the costs of being a parent.

Tuition at top-tier prep schools—those awarded a 9/10 or 10/10 by the national non-profit GreatSchools—averages about $40,000 a year for fees, according to new research by real-estate website Trulia. “You could be talking about $1 million for families with more than one child for the best prep schools,” says Mark Hamrick, Washington, D.C. bureau chief with personal finance site Bankrate.com.

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