Thanks to a story in The New York Times, we learn that median tuition at the 61 elite private schools in New York City has hit $36,970 a year for 12th-graders. A new school in the Chelsea neighborhood plans to charge $39,750 for a year of nursery school.

Seriously? The tuition at Harvard this year was $36,305. Hard as it is to believe, some parents will be relieved when their kids get accepted into Ivy League universities because, at last, they can start saving some money. Of course, if you’re paying $39,000 and change annually for grade school and high school tuition, it’s inevitable that your kids will get into the university of their choice.

But tuition is only part of the cost at these schools. Just like most public and parochial schools, they are constantly holding fundraisers, the difference being that if you don’t contribute heftily, Junior may find himself tossed into the public school system next year, sitting next to the children of general practitioners, public defenders, plumbers, electricians, waitresses, reporters or, heaven forfend, members of your own household staff.