Charter schools are publicly funded, autonomous schools

Private K-12 schools rely on tuition; colleges rely on funding for research

Tuition, endowments, donors, and grants often fund private schools, allowing them to eschew national curriculum standards. Private colleges and universities also charge tuition, but often rely on federal funding for research.

For-profit schools are not beholden to educational missions

While many private schools are nonprofit organizations, beholden to their missions and boards, some are for-profit entities owned by private individuals or corporations. In some cases, these institutions offer substandard courses and award unaccredited degrees.

School choice allows families to use public funds for private education

Some private school advocates support school choice, a broad policy that provides families with public money (sometimes called “vouchers”) to spend on private education, including religiously affiliated schools.

Private schools are free to experiment with teaching styles

Because they’re not beholden to national curricula, private school teachers can use different pedagogical approaches, like Harkness, which was developed at New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy. The method brings students to a large round oval table and encourages them to lead the lesson through inquiry.

Private schools are generally smaller than public schools

As of 2021, 44% of private schools enrolled fewer than 300 students. By comparison, over 60% of public schools enroll more than 500 students.

The earliest colonial schools were often religious

The earliest American schools were far from our notions of “public” or “private”—they were neighborhood institutions, often founded by religious groups, that sought to educate children academically and spiritually.

One private school network prefers AI to teachers

Alpha School, a private school network that uses AI tutors and human "guides" rather than teachers, is expanding across the US. Its founder says that two hours a day with AI-powered software frees students to pursue their passions. Critics, including the Pennsylvania Department of Education, say the methods are untested.

The scope of 529 plans has expanded, but 529s still have some drawbacks

The tax-advantaged accounts can be used to pay for K-12 education, apprenticeship programs, and student loans, in addition to their original purpose: paying for college. But 529s have downsides, such as fees and penalties for non-qualified uses.

Special districts are a form of local government focused on a single purpose

Unlike cities or counties, which provide a wide range of services, special districts are created to perform a single function, such as water, transit, or mosquito control. They are governed by appointed boards, have independent taxing authority, and now number nearly 40,000 across the US.

Horace Mann was America’s champion of free, standardized public schooling

Horace Mann (1796–1859), Massachusetts Secretary of Education from 1837–1848, led the 19th-century Common School Movement. He established state boards, founded normal schools for teacher training, and urged universal, nonsectarian, tax-funded education. His reforms became national models.

Some California cities outsource their public services entirely to the county

Southern California's "contract cities" incorporate as municipalities but pay Los Angeles County for police, fire, and other services rather than running their own departments—a cost-saving model common across the region.

Charge cards are different from credit cards

Unlike credit cards, charge cards often don’t have a preset credit limit, but cardholders need to pay off the entire balance every month.

Public school districts are subsidizing housing for their teachers

In the face of stagnant wages and a widespread teacher shortage, some public school districts are offering subsidized housing for teachers, hoping the benefit will attract and retain highly qualified educators. California has been at the forefront since 2016, with housing complexes constructed in expensive areas like San Francisco and Daly City.

Hear about the debate over free public transportation

Free public transit boosts economic opportunity and social mobility and is better for the environment. So why do we charge for it? Opponents of free transit cite revenue losses threatening service quality and data showing that free fares don't translate into reduced car use.

The federal government uses the FAFSA to determine student's eligibility aid

Apply for billions of dollars in scholarships, grants, loans, and Federal Work-Study funds using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Get an overview of how the FAFSA form can help you finance your education with money from the federal government, your state, and school; understand when to apply; and find out what you'll need to fill it out.

US school distrists have greatly consolidated since 1940

Consolidation significantly decreased the number of independent school districts from approximately 117,000 in 1940 to just over 13,000 today, mainly driven by efforts to boost efficiency and balance funding across communities.

Credit unions, explained

Proponents of credit unions often point to the fact they’re not-for-profit cooperatives instead of for-profit businesses as a key selling point. This explainer dives into what this looks like in action—instead of pocketing the profits from interest rates, credit unions reinvest that money into the products and services they offer. For customers, this tends to create a more personal and community-oriented experience.

Dual-class stock structures separate equity and decision-making authority

In the past few decades, dual-class stock structures have become an increasingly popular way for companies to raise capital in public markets without allocating traditional shareholder voting rights. Meta, Estée Lauder, and The New York Times are companies that are famously dual-class.

Voter turnout in local elections is significantly lower than for national elections

While 64% of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election, turnout in municipal elections is usually below 15%. For school board elections—where members oversee more than 50 million students and $600B in spending—turnout is often around 5%-10%.

NASA and SpaceX combine public support and funding with private enterprise

Rather than competitors, SpaceX and NASA are mutually beneficial collaborators. Without NASA contracts, SpaceX may have run out of funding, and without the low-cost tech of SpaceX, NASA may have been left without a US-based launch system.

Comic-Con is a nonprofit organization

San Diego Comic‑Con International launched in 1970 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit aimed at promoting public appreciation for comics and related arts. All proceeds fund programming such as Comic‑Con, WonderCon, and the Comic‑Con Museum.

Decentralized autonomous organizations organize on the blockchain

Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are typically formed with a specific goal in mind. ConstitutionDAO, for instance, was made to raise funds to buy a copy of the US Constitution (it failed).

State governments have public pensions for their employees

In many US states, these pensions are set aside for teachers, firefighters, and/or other state government workers. However, many of these pensions are currently underfunded. This map provides a visual representation of how strong each US states’ public pensions are.

A 1975 law let tribes run their own programs instead of relying on federal bureaucracies

The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act allowed tribes to contract directly with the federal government to administer their own health, education, and social services—reversing policies from the "termination era."

HSAs are triple-tax advantaged—offering tax-free contributions, investments, and withdrawals

One of the reasons HSAs are so popular is the plan's triple-tax advantage. All contributions to an HSA happen pretax, funds in the HSA can be invested in stocks, bonds, or exchange-traded funds, and withdrawals to cover medical expenses are tax-free.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

A small portion of The Winstons' 'Amen, Brother,' an obscure '60s gospel record, is the basis for thousands of hip-hop tracks, making it one of the most sampled records ever that's informally known as 'the Amen break.'