Coed, boys' or girls' boarding school? 77% are coed, and single-sex schools are smaller
We classified schools from the enrolment-by-sex figures in the NCES Private School Universe Survey (PSS 2023-24) for the 232 boarding schools in the USAnaru™ directory that have them. Medians are shown; "n" is the number of schools.
| Coed | Boys' | Girls' | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schools | 179 (77%) | 29 (12.5%) | 24 (10%) |
| Median enrollment | 311 | 171 | about 209 |
| Median students per teacher | 7.3 | 6.6 | 6.2 |
| Median graduates to a 4-year college | 98% | 95% | 100% |
| Median distance to a major airport | 64 km | 88 km | 27 km |
| Median boarding tuition | $77,892 (n=84) | $67,450 (n=12) | $73,000 (n=15) |
How to read this
- Single-sex means smaller. Boys' and girls' schools are much smaller than coed schools, which tends to mean a smaller community and fewer teams and courses.
- Tuition samples are small. Only 12 boys' and 15 girls' schools publish tuition on their own websites, so treat those two medians as a rough guide.
- Do not choose by type alone. Start from the school list, filter by what matters, and read how to read college counseling results. See also how big boarding schools are.
Figures are as of 2026-10-12 and school-reported; see how USAnaru™ collects and labels data.
Cite this article as: USAnaru™ — https://usanaru.com/news/coed-boys-girls-boarding-schools-numbers
Questions
How many U.S. boarding schools are single-sex?
In USAnaru™ data, 53 of 232 schools with PSS 2023-24 figures are single-sex: 29 boys' schools and 24 girls' schools. The other 179 are coed.
Is a single-sex school better academically?
These numbers do not show that. College-going rates are high at all three types (median 95% to 100%). Choose by fit, size and community, and ask each school about its own results.
Related documents
Sources
- Private School Universe Survey (PSS) — U.S. Department of Education, NCES
- How USAnaru™ collects and labels school data — USAnaru™
General information as of Oct 12, 2026, not legal, immigration or admissions advice. Each school, the U.S. Department of State and SEVP decide; check the school's own pages and official sources before you act.
