In a story on the rise of for-profit private schools in NYC, the NYT highlights a demographic trend that could spell disaster: in Manhattan, there are more rich kids than private school slots. What will the rich kids do?

But the market for private-school enrollment generally seems robust: according to one study conducted for a new school, the number of school-age children in households between Battery Park City and 72nd Street with annual incomes above $500,000 soared to 15,700 in 2010, from 4,300 a decade before. According to the study, the top dozen schools in the city - all nonprofit - have only 11,000 seats.

That's right: nearly five thousand of Manhattans wealthiest kids simply cannot get a seat in one of the top dozen private schools in the city. As we see it, this leaves them with only a few choices:

1. Attend a private school that is not in the "top dozen." Unacceptable.
2. Attend a public school. Unacceptable.
3. Attend home school. No chicks/ guys/ drug dealers. Unacceptable.
4. Attend boarding school elsewhere. A possibility.
5. Drop out of school. You're already rich, who cares?

The only acceptable options both have the effect of drawing rich kids out of Manhattan schools. Win-win.

[NYT. Pic via]