PREP SCHOOL AND PUBLIC SCHOOL GRADUATES: WHO ATTENDS COLLEGE REUNIONS, WHO DONATES, WHO DOESN'T, AND WHY

Abstract

As early as the 1920s, studies at various elite colleges revealed that public school graduates outperformed private school graduates academically, and more recent research indicates various differences in life patterns between these two groups 25 years after graduation. The two new studies presented here, which look at attendance at college reunions and donations to one's college, extend that earlier work. At a New England college, public school graduates were more likely than the private school graduates to attend their 30th, 35th, and 40th year college reunions. Donations to the school showed that public school graduates were somewhat more likely to make contributions than private school graduates, and graduates of the most socially elite boarding schools were especially unlikely to have made contributions. These findings are discussed in terms of the varying roles that prep schools and colleges play in one's identity.

The author wishes to thank G. William Domhoff for his thoughtful comments on an early draft of this paper, and Ann M. Gordon for the assistance she provided recording data for Study 2.