Environmental education has primarily been the responsibility of the government due to its involvement with the public good―in this case, the environment. Education services, including environmental education, are also predominantly supplied by the government and are perceived as public goods. However, environmental education also has some attributes normally associated with private goods, exhibiting characteristics of quasi-public goods or ‘merit goods’. Although this aspect is related to the supply of environmental education in our society, it has not been adequately addressed. Against this backdrop, this study distinguishes between public and private supply mechanisms of environmental education and compares preferences by analyzing the willingness to pay between two distinct groups based on these supply mechanisms. To mitigate potential selection bias between the two groups, propensity score matching was employed. The research findings, adjusted for selection bias, indicate an approximately 22.3% higher willingness to pay for private supply compared to public supply, with statistical significance observed. These results underscore the potential for private sector involvement in the supply of environmental education. The study emphasizes the need for policy efforts to expand private supply mechanisms beyond public provision and to foster cooperation between the two supply mechanisms.

[Key Words] Environmental Education, Supply Mechanisms of Environmental Education, Environ