How Is a Private School Actually Valued? The Formula Buyers UseIf you have ever asked an advisor what your school is worth and gotten a vague answer, here is the direct version. Buyers value a school by taking its adjusted EBITDA and multiplying it by a number that reflects size, risk, and growth. That is the entire mechanic.
Read MoreHow Do I Know When It's the Right Time to Sell My School?Here is the direct answer most school owners spend years circling: the right time to sell is before you are forced to. The owners who sell well rarely sell because they ran out of energy, ran out of runway, or ran out of road.
Read MoreThe Owner-Dependence Trap: Why Buyers Discount Schools That Can't Run Without You
Read MoreWhen an owner signs a letter of intent to sell their school, the celebration usually lasts about a day. Then due diligence begins, and that is where the real test starts. In my experience, a signed LOI is not the finish line. It is the starting gun for the most fragile stretch of the entire sale, the 60 to 90 days when a buyer stops listening to your story and starts re-underwriting your numbers line by line. Most private school sales that collapse do not collapse at the negotiating table.
Read MoreWho Actually Buys Private Schools in 2026? The Five Buyer Types and How Each One Values Your SchoolIf you are thinking about selling a private school in 2026, here is the direct answer to the question most owners never ask until it is too late: there are five distinct types of buyers in the private school M&A market, and each one will put a different price on the exact same school.
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