As long as Mrs Bennet was still able to bear children nobody counted on William Collins inheriting Longbourn, so he would have needed to be prepared to make his own way in the world. Considering his particular 'talents', the church seemed a likely course. In order to be ordained as a clergyman he would have had to have attended either Oxford or Cambridge.
As with public schools, which one to choose depended mostly on family tradition. Two schools mentioned in the novels are Eton (Edmund Bertram) and Westminster (Robert Ferrars). Besides public school and employing a tutor at home there was also the option of sending a boy to a private establishment, such as Mr Pratt's in S&S or Jane Austen's own father's establishment.
As with public schools, which one to choose depended mostly on family tradition. Two schools mentioned in the novels are Eton (Edmund Bertram) and Westminster (Robert Ferrars). Besides public school and employing a tutor at home there was also the option of sending a boy to a private establishment, such as Mr Pratt's in S&S or Jane Austen's own father's establishment.