Private Schools and Public Benefit: Fees, Fee Remissions, and Subsidies

The level of fee remissions offered by private schools bears upon the scope for relying on private schools to provide public benefit. Analyses of education voucher systems have generally ignored the possibility that they will partially crowd out school-financed fee remissions. Moreover, variation in fee remissions between private schools may be directed more strongly by either market pressures or by a school's sense of charitable mission. These possibilities are addressed in this study using data gathered from audited school accounts and websites of private schools in England.