Explain why private institutions are more expensive to attend as compared to public institutions?

Answer 1

As usual, some of these answers are totally wrong.

In the USA the oldest colleges were started by individuals, not the governments. They were private corporations - what we would call "non-profits." Over the centuries, some of these colleges have survived and grown into major world universities with huge research programs, campuses with hundreds of buildings, etc.

They have accumulated $millions, or in a few cases, $billions of dollars in endowment which they use to support their programs -- the vast majority of that money has come from gifts given to the college by friends and alumni. Harvard has been receiving gifts since the 1600s so it has built up a giant endownment.

If you take the total amount that it takes to run Harvard and divide it by the number of students, the result is, it costs abou $80,000 a year per student to run the school. The university charges the students $45,000 and makes up the difference with money from the interest on the endowment and other sources. Many students cant afford it so the university loans them the tuition. The same thing is true at the other Ivies, Duke, Stanford and the other elite schools.

Public schools run on a different plan. Mostly, state schools were established to provide education for subject that the private schools were not teaching, such as agriculture or primary education. The cost was kept low to encourage people to attend.. So, at at typical state school the cost per student per year is probably about $25,000 per year per student. The state charges the students from $3000 to $15000 or so for tuition, then the taxpayers pick up the rest. The smount of money spent per student is generally much less than in the private schools, so that's why the classes are generally larger, the facilities are not so good and the professors are generally less prestigious or famous.

Of course, with 4000 college campuses in the USA, there are lots of exceptions to these general comments.

Answer 2

At first there was only private education, which people paid to the school for building up keep and teacher salary. There were few adminstrators usually a president and a secretary. If you had good grades you could get a full scholarships to these schools.
Most private schools now are like parochial schools or technical schools. They are called private because they get no government money for teacher salaries or books they use the tuition received from the students and their loan companies.

Congress enacted a law, I think it was in the 1920s that all children must attend school in certain age groups and put aside monies to help states build the buildings, teacher salaries and money for textbooks. As the administration grew so did the amount of money for the public schools. Colleges even if they are public institutions still are expensive to go to over all.

Answer 3

Very simply, the funding of the costs to operate the school.. Publicly supported schools receive money from the state to help keep the cost of tuition and fees down, private schools do not.

The states do that so an "affordable" education can be obtained by all. Private institutions must rely more on tuition and fees collected from the attendees.

Answer 4

Because public institutions are funded by taxation? I thought it was an obvious answer.

The purpose of public institutions is to cover and protect the segments of the population that cannot afford the private services, while the purpose of private institutions is simply to bring profit to its shareholders.
In some countries many public institutions like hospitals and universities are completely free. Not in the US.

Answer 5

Because thats what they are. State schools ar funded by government or local government.

Private schools depend on income from fees to keep running. They may also get sponsorships and donations but for the most part, its the student that pays.

That does not make them better schools either. Check the schools exam result tables.

Answer 6

Private Institutions are there to make money. Public Institutions are usually operated by the government or no-profit organizations, so thats why they are usually cheaper.