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“Prep” is a Business

Do you shop at J. Crew or wear polo shirts? If you answered yes to either of these questions you are part of the hottest new trend “Prep Chic”. Everything associated with the trend is growing into big business. For the past 20 years Americans have loved and loved to hate boarding schools. But the statics do not lie, the recent trend has been in favor of them. They have come a long way since Holden Caulfield bashed them in the 1950's. Today boarding schools are hot, and applications at elite schools like Andover and Deerfield have grown as much as 10% in the past two years. However, boarding schools are not the stuffy elite social seen they once were. Headmaster at Thacher says that since the 80's the best schools have become more diverse and more democratic. Furthermore, the student population has also changed greatly. No longer do you see children of just the rich and famous, schools are pulling in more kids from public schools. Taft admissions chief makes more visits to public schools then private. When visiting public schools boarding school officials use a powerful tool- money. Three decades ago 16% of Taft students received financial aid, today one-third of the student body get assistance. However, boarding school have also seen a demise. In the past they were feeders into ivy league colleges such as Harvard. In 1939, 23 of the 82 member class were admitted to Yale. By 1984 only 6 out of 148 were admitted. In the past five years 23% of Taft students were admitted to Ivy League schools or “Little Ivies” such as Wesleyan or Williams and Amherst.
Furthermore, the popularity of boarding schools has affected other business ventures. J. Crew for example returned to its “prep” roots, selling rainbow flip flops and bright polos. Their move has been beneficial since over the last year they saw an increase of 16% in sales. Also, because of this trend the book “Prep”, which is about a middle class girl attending boarding school was launched onto bestseller lists across the country. Whether you agree with it or not “Prep Chic” is a strong social trend and business is growing off of it. This article was found online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7725497/site/newsweek/page/