How much more does private school cost than state school?

Private school fees can run to tens of thousands a year, while state schooling has mainly donations and incidental costs. Across the years a child is at school, the difference can total a very large sum, especially with several children.

What could the fee difference grow to if invested?

Invested rather than spent on fees, the difference could grow substantially over the schooling years and beyond, thanks to compounding. This calculator shows both the raw difference and what investing it might become.

Is private school worth the cost?

That is a personal judgement about education, environment and values, not just money. The calculator gives the financial scale so you can weigh it alongside everything else that matters in the decision.

Private vs State School Calculator

This New Zealand calculator works out the lifetime cost difference between private and state schooling, and what investing the difference could grow to. Private fees add up to a very large sum over the years a child is at school, while state schooling carries mainly donations and incidentals. You enter the yearly costs and years, and the tool shows the total difference and what investing it instead might become, giving the full financial scale of the choice.

Private cost per year

State cost per year

Years of schooling

If invested, return

extra cost of private over state across the schooling years

Private total$0

State total$0

The difference invested$0

Per child; multiply for more children. The invested figure adds the yearly difference each year at your return, to the end of schooling; returns are not guaranteed. This is the money only; the choice is also about education and values. Estimate only.

How it works

The calculator totals the private and state costs over the years of schooling, and the difference is the extra that private schooling costs for one child. To show the opportunity cost, it also grows that yearly difference as a regular investment at your chosen return to the end of schooling, illustrating what the money could become if invested instead. For several children, the figures scale up accordingly.

Worked example

Private at $25,000 a year versus state at $1,500, over 13 years, is a difference of about $305,500 per child. Invested at 6% as you went, that difference could grow to well over $450,000 by the end of schooling, which is the scale to weigh against the value you place on the schooling itself.

Related calculators

Education Savings Calculator: saving for school.
Cost of Raising a Child Calculator: full child cost.
Compound Interest Calculator: how money grows.
Tutoring Cost Calculator: tutoring costs.

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