Chartering and Bartering: Elite Education and Social Reproduction

Abstract

The transmission of privilege is central to the reproduction of an elite class. There has been recurrent speculation about elite school influence within the structure of educational opportunity, but few researchers have had access to these schools. Based on interviews and observations at 42 private boarding schools, and on student questionnaires and school records from a sample of these schools, we find that elite boarding schools confer special “status rights.” Moreover, social networks between the schools' college advisors and the admissions officers of elite colleges enable the former to lobby successfully for their students, thereby facilitating the passage of privilege.