A good education is said to be the best investment, and New York City‘s top private schools hope people keep adhering to that adage as tuition surges to new highs.

The annual cost of attendance at eight of the city’s most elite schools will eclipse the $70,000 mark for the 2026-27 academic year, charging more than even the country’s best colleges, according to a new analysis published by Bloomberg.

Schools point to the rising costs of life in New York in general and to increased salary costs to retain top teachers and staff at their respective institutions. Avenues the World School in Chelsea was the first to breach the $70,000 mark, charging $72,300 for tuition for the 2025-26 year, while seven more schools will hike tuition into the 70s next year. Across this upper strata of schools, tuition will increase 4.7 percent next year, outpacing inflation. And Bloomberg reports that since 2014, the median price of for private school in New York has risen from $39,900.

“There is definite sticker shock for some families—especially those relocating to New York from perhaps not major cities—but there’s also acceptance,” Sharon Decker, an education consultant who works with families as they apply to private schools, told Bloomberg. “There’s an expectation that just as the cost of living goes up, that tuition will go up every year, whether it’s preschool or college.”

Some of the cost of attendance is offset by the schools themselves. Avenues, which is raising its tuition 4.2 percent to $75,300 next year, provides $20 million of financial aid to 20 percent of its students. And the Poly Prep Country Day School, which is raising its tuition 3.8 percent to $71,852 for 2026-27, provides $14.5 million in aid to 22 percent of its students.

The increase prices has led to more families searching for financial aid to fund their child’s education. And Robin Aronow, who has the firm School Search NYC to help families with attending private school, says even a little bit helps, “so that their family can breathe a little bit more or take a vacation.”

Look at the bright side for these kids and parents, though: If the students graduate from one of these elite schools and get into Harvard, then the university’s $59,320 annual tuition will feel like a discount.