Secondary Education Schools and Programs in The United States

Secondary Education Studies in The United States

Secondary education in the United States means high school: grades 9 to 12, which end with a high school diploma and prepare students for college or work. Most students attend public schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 15.5 million students attended grades 9 to 12 in public schools in fall 2022, and private schools enrolled 9 percent of all pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 in fall 2021. SpainExchange lists 229 schools in the United States for this subject: high schools and universities that train secondary school teachers.

How secondary education is organised

There is no national curriculum; states, school districts and individual private schools set their own. NCES counted 23,519 public secondary and high schools in 2020-21 and 3,626 private ones in 2019-20. Private schools take several forms:

• Boarding schools. St. George's School in Rhode Island is a boarding and day school with 400 students in grades 9-12. Brewster Academy in New Hampshire has 350 day and boarding students from 29 states and 23 countries
• Faith-based day schools. Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C., founded in 1821, is a Catholic college preparatory school for boys in grades 9-12. Portsmouth Abbey School is a Catholic Benedictine boarding and day school
• International and IB schools. Rochambeau, The French International School, in Bethesda awards both a US high school diploma and the French Baccalaureate. Newark Academy in New Jersey offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme

Visa rules for international high school students

The type of school decides which visa route is open. Under US immigration law (8 U.S.C. 1184(m)), a student on an F-1 visa may attend a public secondary school for no more than 12 months in total, and must reimburse the school district for the full, unsubsidised cost of the education. Private high schools are not subject to this time limit, which is why students who want to complete several years in the United States usually choose a private day or boarding school that is authorised to enrol international students.

The other route is the J-1 secondary school student exchange programme of the U.S. Department of State. Participants study at an accredited public or private high school and live with a host family or at a boarding school. They must be at least 15 and not older than 18 years and six months when the programme starts, or not have finished more than 11 years of primary and secondary school, and must not have taken part in such an exchange before. Placements are arranged through designated programme sponsors.

Costs

Private schools publish their own fees, and they differ widely. Three examples for the 2026-27 school year: Brewster Academy charges $80,800 for boarding students, including room and board, and $44,700 for day students; St. George's School charges $79,900 for boarding and $55,470 for day students; Gonzaga College High School, a day school, charges $35,460. Support in English as a second language can cost extra: at Brewster, the language programmes are billed separately.

Where to find secondary schools

The schools on this page are concentrated in the eastern United States. Washington, D.C. has five, among them Gonzaga College High School and Georgetown Day School, and New York has three. Several place names with many schools, such as Greenville, Wilmington and Dover, exist in more than one state, so check the state of each school. When comparing high schools, look at the grades covered, day or boarding, the curriculum (Advanced Placement, IB or a foreign diploma), English language support, whether the school can enrol international students, and the full cost.

Becoming a secondary school teacher

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), all states require public high school teachers to have at least a bachelor's degree, and many states require a major in a content area such as mathematics or science. Public school teachers also need a state licence or certification; a secondary certification typically allows teaching from the 7th to the 12th grade. Requirements vary by state but generally include a bachelor's degree, a student-teaching programme, a background check and certification tests. Teachers in private schools typically do not need a licence.

Universities organise this training in different ways. At Butler University in Indianapolis, middle/secondary education students prepare to teach grades 5-12, complete the same number of content courses as students majoring in those subjects and spend more than 800 hours in local classrooms. Vanderbilt University offers a secondary education programme for initial teacher licensure in grades six through twelve, with concentrations in English, mathematics, science or social studies. A US teaching licence is issued by one state, so international students who plan to teach at home should ask their own education authority how the degree is recognised.

BLS counts about 1.1 million high school teachers in 2025, 81% of them in local public schools. Employment is projected to show little or no change from 2025 to 2035, but about 63,500 openings a year are expected.

Frequently asked questions

Can an international student attend a public high school in the United States?

Yes, but with limits. On an F-1 visa, attendance at a public secondary school is limited to 12 months in total and the full cost must be reimbursed. J-1 exchange students can also be placed in public high schools.

How much does a private high school cost in the United States?

It depends on the school. For 2026-27, the examples on this page range from $35,460 at a day school to about $80,000 a year at boarding schools, room and board included.

What do I need to teach in a US high school?

According to BLS, at least a bachelor's degree and, for public schools, a state-issued licence or certification. Private schools typically do not require a licence.