Do seminarians or priests have to pay for their education if they leave?

[HomeschoolDad]

(This is the closest forum I could find, the topic really didn’t logically “fit” anywhere.)

If a seminarian ends his studies before he is ordained to the priesthood — especially if he has studied for 4 or more years — and then decides not to go through with it, does he have to pay for all or any part of the education that has been given to him? Even more to the point, if a priest is ordained, exercises his priestly ministry for a time, then decides to leave (whether laicized or not), does he have any obligation to pay for his education? Or is this just a “downside risk” that the Church takes when it sponsors a seminarian or ordains a priest — that they will just accept the risk of losing the money they’ve invested in a priest, in the name of fostering and nurturing vocations?

 

[Bithynian]

It varies from diocese to diocese according to their financial health.

It’s probably too difficult to offer generalised answers, but I would think as a matter of fiduciary prudence most dioceses would require that students who discontinue study would pay back some of the costs of seminary.