Best Private High Schools in Metro Manila by Tuition Tier

TL;DR: Metro Manila's private high schools span roughly a 10x tuition gap. Budget chains like APEC Schools run about ₱36,000-₱44,000 a year, mid-range Catholic schools like St. Scholastica's College charge ₱88,000-₱95,000, and elite schools like Assumption College San Lorenzo and Ateneo de Manila run ₱145,000-₱320,000 depending on track. Junior high families who qualify can also lean on the ESC grant, and senior high families on the SHS voucher, to offset part of the bill at participating private schools.

Introduction

"Best" private high school in Metro Manila means something different to every family. For some it's the Jesuit or Lasallian pedigree and the college-placement track record. For others, it's simply the best DepEd-aligned education their budget allows. This guide sorts Metro Manila's private junior and senior high schools into three tuition tiers — elite, mid-range, and budget — so you can see where a school actually falls before you fall in love with its name.

We pulled tuition figures from schools' own published fee schedules where available, and flagged anywhere a number comes from a school-fee aggregator instead of an official document. We also cover how the DepEd Educational Service Contracting (ESC) grant and the Senior High School Voucher Program fit into the picture, since both can meaningfully lower what a family actually pays at a participating private school.

All figures below are annual tuition unless noted, and exclude one-time fees like reservation deposits, uniforms, and books. Tuition changes every school year, so treat these as a starting point for comparison, not a final number.

Metro Manila Private High Schools at a Glance

What Counts as "Elite" Tier?

The elite tier covers Metro Manila's most recognized Jesuit, Lasallian, and Catholic girls' schools, generally charging ₱140,000 a year and up, with several running past ₱200,000 once senior high or an IB track is added. These schools consistently place graduates in UP, Ateneo, DLSU, and top universities abroad, and most require competitive entrance exams.

Ateneo de Manila (Quezon City) publishes its grade-level fee schedule to admitted families each year. For SY2023-2024, Kinder ran ₱168,000-₱172,000 and Grade 1 ran ₱178,000-₱183,000 depending on payment schedule, while Grade 7 (Junior High) ran ₱204,000-₱210,000. The school has flagged increases of up to 6% in subsequent years, so current totals for Grade 7 likely sit above ₱215,000-₱230,000. Ateneo does not publish a single public tuition table online; these figures come from the school's own grade-level circulars distributed to applicants.

Assumption College San Lorenzo (Makati) is one of the few elite schools with a fully public fee schedule. For SY2024-2025, published rates show Grades 1-6 at ₱117,782, Grades 7-10 (Junior High) at ₱144,816, and Senior High at ₱159,781 for the regular track or ₱320,320 for the IB Diploma Programme — plus separate miscellaneous and other fees of roughly ₱30,300-₱45,175 for basic education and ₱42,400-₱44,900 for senior high.

La Salle Green Hills (Mandaluyong), Xavier School (San Juan), and Saint Pedro Poveda College (Quezon City) are consistently named among Metro Manila's top all-boys, bilingual, and all-girls Catholic schools respectively, but none currently publishes a public per-grade tuition table online. Third-party school-fee aggregators put Xavier and La Salle Green Hills in the ₱180,000-₱240,000+ range, but we could not verify this against an official school document, so treat it as an estimate and confirm directly with each school's admissions office before budgeting.

What Counts as "Mid-Range" Tier?

Mid-range private high schools in Metro Manila generally charge ₱60,000-₱150,000 a year. Many are long-established Catholic schools with strong extracurricular and athletics programs, without the premium price tag of the elite tier.

St. Scholastica's College (Manila), a Benedictine school for girls, publishes its official schedule of fees each year. For SY2025-2026, Junior High (Grades 7-10) tuition is ₱88,444, while Senior High runs ₱92,589 for Grade 11 and ₱95,235 for Grade 12 — figures that exclude a separate registration fee and program-specific charges like athletics, computer, and guidance fees.

Colegio de San Juan de Letran (Manila), a Dominican school inside Intramuros, publishes tuition through its Finance Department. Its SY2025-2026 schedule for Grades 7-10 runs roughly ₱69,000-₱76,000 depending on grade level, rising in the higher grades.

De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (Muntinlupa/Alabang) sits at the upper edge of this tier, with tuition previously reported in the ₱130,000-₱180,000 range, closer to elite-tier pricing than most other mid-range schools on this list, reflecting its popularity with south Metro Manila families.

What Counts as "Budget" Tier?

Budget private high schools charge under ₱50,000 a year, following the same DepEd K-12 curriculum as pricier schools, without the extensive facilities, campus size, or brand recognition of the elite tier.

APEC Schools, a joint venture between Ayala Corporation and Pearson, operates more than 30 campuses across Metro Manila and nearby provinces, charging roughly ₱36,000-₱44,000 a year for Grades 7-12 with tablet- and laptop-based instruction included. Dozens of smaller parish and community-based private schools throughout Quezon City, Manila, Caloocan, and Pasay also charge under ₱50,000 a year, and many participate in DepEd's ESC and SHS voucher programs, which can shrink the family's out-of-pocket cost further.

Tuition and fee figures change every school year and can vary by grade level, payment plan, and program track. Confirm current rates directly with each school's admissions or finance office before enrolling.

Junior High vs. Senior High: How the ESC Grant and SHS Voucher Fit In

Two DepEd-PEAC programs can lower what a family pays at a participating private high school, but they apply to different grade bands.

• Educational Service Contracting (ESC) subsidizes Grade 7-10 enrollment at participating private junior high schools for students who would otherwise attend an overcrowded public school.
• SHS Voucher Program (SHS VP) subsidizes Grade 11-12 at a participating private senior high school. Qualified Voucher Recipient (QVR) is the status you receive once your application is approved, not a bypass: Categories A to D file directly at the school they choose, and only Category E, private-school Grade 10 completers, applies through PEAC's Online Voucher Application Portal. Transferring to a public school or to an SHS run by a state or local university or college forfeits the subsidy.

DepEd Order No. 011, s. 2026, the revised E-GASTPE guidelines effective SY 2026-2027, sets the amounts in Section 48, Table 13: up to ₱22,500 a year in NCR for Categories A, B and C, and ₱18,000 for Categories D and E, with lower caps outside NCR. The school is paid the lower of its total fees or the cap. Section 83 of the same order repealed DO 20, s. 2023 in its entirety, so a page still quoting that order is citing a repealed issuance. As PEAC Executive Director Doris Ferrer put it regarding the program's safeguards, "The integrity of the SHS voucher program is non-negotiable for us." Not every school on this list participates in SHS VP, and elite-tier schools rarely need to, so always confirm participation status with your target school before assuming a voucher applies. Our SHS voucher program guide covers exact amounts, eligibility categories, and the OVAP application steps in full.

How to Choose Between Tiers

• If college placement and network matter most, and budget allows ₱150,000+ a year, the elite tier — Ateneo, Assumption, La Salle Green Hills, Xavier, Poveda — delivers the strongest track record into UP, Ateneo, DLSU, and abroad.
• If you want strong academics without elite pricing, mid-range Catholic schools like St. Scholastica's College and Letran offer established curricula, real extracurricular depth, and tuition roughly half of the elite tier.
• If minimizing cost is the priority, budget chains like APEC Schools plus ESC/SHS voucher eligibility can bring effective costs down to a fraction of elite-tier tuition while still meeting DepEd standards.
• Visit before you commit. Published tuition doesn't capture class size, facilities, or fit — schedule a campus visit and talk to current parents if you can.

For the national picture beyond Metro Manila, see our guide to the best private high schools in the Philippines. If you want the broader K-12-and-college view of Manila city specifically, see best private schools in Manila, and for a full tuition breakdown across every tier and level in the metro, see our private school tuition guide for Metro Manila.

Ready to find the right school? Browse schools or compare tuition and reviews across hundreds of Philippine schools on SchoolFinderPH.

Sources

• Assumption College San Lorenzo, Schedule of Fees (via doris.school aggregator, citing SY2024-2025 official schedule)
• St. Scholastica's College Manila, High School Unit Schedule of Fees SY2025-2026
• Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Schedule of Fees SY2025-2026
• Ahead Tutorial and Review, Ateneo Tuition Fee Guide (citing Ateneo's own SY2023-2024 grade-level schedule)
• MoneyMax, Tuition Fees in the Philippines: How Much Education Costs
• APEC Schools, The Cost of Private Education
• DepEd — DO 011, s. 2026, Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE)
• DepEd — DO 011, s. 2026, full signed order (PDF): Section 33 with Tables 8 and 9 for the categories, Sections 43 to 44 for termination and transfers, Sections 45 to 46 for participating schools, Section 48 and Table 13 for voucher amounts, Section 83 for the repealing clause
• PhilStar.com, "PEAC, DepEd vow tighter controls for voucher program"