University-preparatory school

From Free net encyclopedia

A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school, college prep school, or prep school) is a private secondary school (or high school) designed to prepare a student for higher education. (In the United Kingdom the term preparatory school has a different meaning, as they are designed to prepare students under thirteen for prestigious fee-paying Public Schools).

There are many types of prep schools. While some have facilities in which students live (i.e., boarding schools), most are day schools. Often, prep schools are highly selective, academically challenging, and largely independent of state and local controls. Such schools are usually expensive, with high tuition used to pay excellent teachers and provide enriched learning environments. These schools often, however, have significant endowments which allow for scholarships that allow demographic heterogeneity. Many of these schools place a strong emphasis on sports (in America, see the Independent School Leagues or Southwest Preparatory Conference). In the United States, preparatory education is also often associated with the preppy subculture.

Other prep schools are not as academically oriented and, while they might boast of low student-to-teacher ratios and a beautiful campus, their student bodies are about as academic as neighboring public schools. Other prep schools specialize in students with learning disabilities and behavior problems, while still others focus on a religious subset of the population (e.g., Jews, Christians). These latter schools often lack significant financial backing, leading to limited extracurricular activities and financial aid.

The elite prep schools frequently have the resources to pay top salaries and to offer excellent working conditions. They tend to boast of a high percentage of teachers with graduate degrees and long tenures.

In France, some high schools offer special postgraduate classes called classes préparatoires, equivalent in level to the first years of university, for students who wish to prepare for the competitive exams for the entrance in the Grandes écoles. French classes préparatoires are exceptionally intensive and selective, taking only the very best students graduating from high schools but the tuition fees are generally non-existent.