In this paper, I compare the regulation and financing of private schools in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I will analyse the differences and similarities in the legal framework of private schools concerning the following dimensions: legal status of private schools, responsibilities for the legal framework (federal government or the states/cantons), approval criteria and funding sources for public subsidies (federal government or the states/cantons). Based on the analyses of primary and secondary sources, this paper adopts a historical-institutionalist perspective for examining the role of political parties, teacher unions and other interest groups as well as their strategies in subsidizing private schools (Nikolai, 2019a, 2019b). The paper will show that in Germany, Austria and Switzerland the regulatory frameworks vary and influence the establishment and operation of private schools (Nikolai et al. 2018; Nikolai and Koinzer 2017). In comparison to Austria and Switzerland, the German school legislation provides a more attractive environment for private schools. In Germany, private schools have gained in the past a broad support of the different political camps and due to generous public subsidies private schools could expand (Nikolai and Koinzer 2017). In the German case, comparatively high subsidies for private schools could be explained by the strong relationship between the Christian Democrats and various churches as well as the fragmentation of teachers’ unions. In contrast, Swiss school politics in the cantons is characterized by considerable reluctance towards subsidizing private schools. Most of the Swiss political parties are sceptical towards private schools and the interest groups of private schools are (yet) not powerful in enforcing higher subsidies (Nikolai 2019b; Nikolai et al. 2018). In Austria, the amount of public subsidies depends on the sponsorship of private schools: only the denominational schools receive high public subsidies, as the Catholic Church was successful in the past to enforce a generous public subsidization of their schools (Nikolai et al. 2018). Due to low public subsidies for private schools (in Switzerland) or rather non-denomination private schools (in Austria), the share of pupils in private schools is relatively low in Austria and Switzerland, whereas in the German states private schools are booming.

-Nikolai, R. (2019a). After the German reunification: The implementation of a two-tiered school model in Berlin and Saxony. History of Education, 48 (3), 374-394. -Nikolai, R. (2019b). Staatliche Subventionen für Privatschulen: Politiken der Privatschulfinanzierung in Australien und der Schweiz. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Bildungswissenschaften, 41 (3), 559-575. -Nikolai, R., & Koinzer, T. (2017). Long Tradition, Moderate Distribution and Growing Importance – Private Schools in Germany as ‘Change Agents’ of School Choice. In: Koinzer, T., Nikolai, R., & Waldow, F. (Eds.). Private Schools and School Choice in Compulsory Education (pp. 81-97). Global Change and National Challenge, Wiesbaden: Springer. -Nikolai, R., Wrase, M., Kann, C., & Criblez, L. (2018). Wirkungen von Bildungsregulierung im Vergleich: Rahmenbedingungen und Finanzierung von Privatschulen in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz. Zeitschrift für Rechtssoziologie 38 (2), 272–303.