High tuition at private schools buying plenty of state titles

On Friday night, a pair of private high schools met in the GHSA Class AAA state football championship game inside the Georgia Dome.

While watching Westminster and Blessed Trinity battle it out, one couldn’t help but wonder what the tuition at each institution costs per school year, and what kind of competitive balance that gives a private school over a public school.

The public vs. private school debate is one that seems to be around the GHSA every year. In fact, in 2012, the GHSA had to split the lowest classification, Class A, to avoid losing its public school members from that classification. The GHSA formed a public school division and a private school division to help with competitive balance in state tournaments.

However, in the remaining five other classifications (there will be six other classifications starting in 2016), there are no separate divisions for public and private schools. While there are no private schools that compete in the state’s two largest classifications, there are multiple private schools that compete in Class AA-AAAA.

The competitive advantage private schools have over public high schools is hard to ignore. In sports other than football, private schools are dominating state championship tournaments.

Since 2010, there have been 198 state champions crowned in Classifications AA-AAAA across 11 sports — baseball, boys & girls basketball, boys & girls golf, boys & girls soccer, softball, boys & girls tennis and volleyball — with private schools claiming 91 of those state titles. That’s 45 percent of the state championships have been won by a private school.

Among those 91 state championships, 17 have come from girls’ tennis, out of 18 total champions since 2010. Softball was the only sport of the 11 listed that has not produced a private school champion since 2010.

The breakdown of those sports and state champions crowned looks like this:

Baseball 7 out of 18

Boys basketball 4 out of 18

Girls basketball 5 out of 18

Boys golf 11 out of 18

Girls golf 2 out of 18

Boys soccer 10 out of 18

Girls soccer 13 out of 18

Softball 0 out of 18

Boys tennis 13 out of 18

Girls tennis 17 out of 18

Volleyball 9 out of 18

In Class AAAA, Woodward Academy, which claimed the Region 5 football championship this season, has a whopping tuition of $25,800 a school year. St. Pius X, a catholic high school with a tuition of $13,900 a year, has been one of the most successful athletic high schools in the state.

Across all of its sports, St. Pius X has claimed 54 state championships and 61 state runner-up finishes, according to the school.

Westminster and Blessed Trinity are the only two private schools in Class AAA and both played for the state football championship this season. Westminster, which recorded a 38-31 win on Friday night to earn the school’s third football state title, has a tuition of $25,660, compared to Blessed Trinity’s tuition of $11,850 a year.

Class AA has the most private schools among the top five classifications. By my count, there are eight private schools in Class AA, including Pace Academy, which will play for the state football championship against Fitzgerald on Saturday.

Pace Academy, which has a tuition of $25,170 per school year, beat Greater Atlanta Christian in the state playoffs. GAC has a tuition of $20,205, and has won 15 athletic state championships since 2000, according to the school’s website. GAC is also the only high school in powerhouse Gwinnett County that has an artificial playing surface.

Among the other private schools in Class AA are Wesleyan ($21,770), Lovett ($25,630), Holy Innocents ($24,300), Benedictine ($12,000), Riverside Military ($19,325) and Darlington — the most expensive school in the largest five classifications at $46,750 per school year for domestic students.

Starting in 2016, the GHSA is taking further steps in helping with the competitive advantage private and city schools — like Buford — have over public high schools. The GHSA will force schools with over 3% of its attendance coming from outside of its county to play up a classification, with the exception of its current Class A members.

With that new rule, many private schools will be affected — including Woodward Academy, St. Pius X, Blessed Trinity, Westminster, Marist, Greater Atlanta Christian, Benedictine, Lovett, Holy Innocents, Wesleyan, Pace Academy and Darlington.

Here is a list of schools’ tuition and number of state championships for Classifications AA-AAAAAA.

*state championship totals represent number of titles won since 2010 in 11 sports — baseball, boys & girls basketball, boys & girls golf, boys & girls soccer, softball, boys & girls tennis and volleyball

Class AAAAAA & Class AAAAA

No private schools

Class AAAA

Woodward Academy — $25,800 (7 state championships)

St. Pius X —$13,900 (15 state championships)

Marist — $10,400 (15 state championships)

Class AAA

Westminster — $25,660 (16 state championships)

Blessed Trinity —$11,850 (20 state championships)

Class AA

Greater Atlanta Christian — $20,205 (12 state championships)

Pace Academy — 25,170 (1 state title at Class A)