The Australian education system is currently experiencing rapid change at all levels. This paper considers the recent trends in private school enrolments and fees in light of the new university arrangements which allow for Australian citizens to enrol as full fee paying students rather than having to rely solely on academic merit to earn a place. The paper argues that if parents are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their children’s school education to ensure that they can gain a place in a prestigious university course then they would be financially better off sending their children to public schools and using the money saved to buy them a full fee paying place at an Australian university.