The movie was rumored to be reportedly based on the personal experiences of writer and television producer Dick Wolf, however, in a 2003 interview, Wolf stated that the story was not autobiographical, but had themes that were important to him.
The campus scenes in the movie were shot at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. When the school offered their school for the campus scenes, they were not aware of the plot.
In the French version, Le College d'Elite, all the scenes with the obnoxious French teacher, Mr. Cleary, who keeps riding McGiven, were changed to an Italian teacher. All the dialogue in French was dubbed in Italian. The name of the absent French teacher, Monsieur Renard, was changed to Signore Rinaldi.
The Scranton Bus Depot scene was filmed outside Russell's Package Store in Leominster, Massachusetts. The building was a former train station, and the exterior looked like an old bus station. The owners were compensated for its use with a complete interior remodel. To this day, the Scranton, Pennsylvania Bus Depot decals remain in the front windows of the liquor store.
While reviewing this movie on his show, film critic Gene Siskel recalled experiencing anti-Semitic prejudice during his time at prep school, including being handed piece of toast with jam in the shape of a swastika. Siskel said the film had a fairly high bar with him due to its subject matter, but the end result pleased him very much.