From Cookson & Persell's `Preparing For Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools'--Part 4

In their 1985 book, Preparing For Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools, Peter W. Cookson Jr. and Cardine Hodges Persell wrote the following about the U.S. power elite's private school and elite prep school educational system:

“E. Digby Baltzell identified 16 boarding schools that `serve the sociological function of differentiating the upper classes from the rest of the population…’ Indeed, the 16 schools [Phillips Acdemy, Phillips Exeter Academy, Episcopal High School, Hill School, St. Paul’s School, St. Mark’s School, Lawrenceville School, Groton School, Woodbury Forest School, Taft School, Hotchkiss School, Choate School, St. George’s School, Middlesex School, Deerfield Academy, Kent School] strike one as predominantly `old, eastern, patrician, aristocratic and English.’ These are core schools of the elite tradition, and they play an important role in socializing their students for power. We refer to these schools as the select 16…

“Others besides Baltzell have developed lists of the most socially prestigious American boarding schools and although they differ on one or two schools, there is a consensus as to which schools are the most elite…

“Aldrich’s list excludes three schools with a heavy southern constituency (The Episcopal High School, The Hill School, and Woodberry Forest School) and includes two New England schools that Baltzell does not (Milton Academy and Brooks School). As Baltzell is interested in those schools that serve a national elite his list has the virtue of including more schools outside of New England.

“Compared to other leading schools, the select 16 schools tend to have been founded earlier, are larger, have many more alumni—and consequently are more heavily endowed, have more buildings and playing fields and are more likely to be located in New England or the Middle or South Atlantic states than other boarding schools…”