Gymnasium (Germany)

The gymnasium (German pronunciation: [ɡʏmˈnaːzi̯ʊm]; German plural: Gymnasien), in the German education system, is a type of secondary school with a strong emphasis on academic learning, comparable with the British grammar school system or with prep schools in the United States. The student attending a gymnasium is called "Gymnasiast" (German plural: "Gymnasiasten"). In 2009/10 there were 3094 gymnasien in Germany, with c. 2,475,000 students (about 28 percent of all precollegiate students during that period), resulting in an average student number of 800 students per school. Gymnasien are generally public, state-funded schools, but a number of parochial and private gymnasien also exists. In 2009/10, 11.1 percent of gymnasium students attended a private gymnasium. These often charge tuition fees, though many also offer scholarships. Tuition fees are lower than in comparable European countries.
Some gymnasien are boarding schools, while others run as...