How to afford Catholic High School with 5 kids?

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barhoram

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Anyone else here have 4-5 children and put them through Catholic High School? How in the world did you do it? Was it worth having to have both parents work to afford it?

Our oldest daughter is in 8th grade now, and will be a Freshman next year. We have 5 kids, with 4 of them in Catholic Grade School Now. Tuition for all 4 of them is $14,000 a year. It is tight, but we make it work. My wife works 2 days a week, and that certainly helps, but we never wanted her to have to work full time. We also have some unusual circumstances as we live 25-30 mins away from their current school.

Tuition for her freshman year (at the school she is looking at that most of her class is going to) would be $12,000 + almost another $1,000 for computer fee and registration. So between the two will be close to $30,000 a year…and our second will be in high school in another 2 years…

We have applied for financial scholarships, but doesn’t look like we will get any. She did not score well on her placement test, and won’t receive any academic scholarship.

Anyone else deal with the same? What did you do? I’m worried at how she would do at our public school, and we both value what she has gained at Catholic school so far.

Any (name removed by moderator)ut appreciated.
 
Is there another Catholic school closer to your home?

I cannot relate to your costs. We have one Catholic school here. K-12. Discounts for more than 2 children. Tuition was half of what your daughter’s high school will be.

Our parish/school does have need based financial help available. The majority of students receive help.

There are also many families that leave Catholic school after 8th grade. They have other children in lower grades and cannot afford to pay for all of them, so they figure that by 8th grade, their children have all of the fundamentals covered. They go to public school where most of them end up excelling because of their earlier schooling.
 
I’m sorry I’m no help, I don’t have any exp. yet on that matter. But if an education from a Catholic school is top priority, Seton Home Study could be an option. In their website, you can find the tuition information, accreditation, Catholic colleges where the graduates have been admitted and more. It says that the parent doesn’t need to know stuff because they give instructions and guidelines plus they are there to come for your aid.
 
It depends on the school. Go to them, talk to them.

The only close example I know is a family who moved into a very much smaller house in a less-affluent neighborhood and just slashed costs everywhere, because they were sending their children to Catholic high school. It’s tight for them, but lowering their mortgage was something they felt absolutely had to happen.
 
barhoram said:
Anyone else here have 4-5 children and put them through Catholic High School? How in the world did you do it? Was it worth having to have both parents work to afford it?

Our oldest daughter is in 8th grade now, and will be a Freshman next year. We have 5 kids, with 4 of them in Catholic Grade School Now. Tuition for all 4 of them is $14,000 a year. It is tight, but we make it work. My wife works 2 days a week, and that certainly helps, but we never wanted her to have to work full time. We also have some unusual circumstances as we live 25-30 mins away from their current school.

I went back to work part time, 3 days a week while the kids are in school. Yes it overlapped for up too and tuition is similar. We thought this choice was a good one for us. Perhaps another day added to your wife’s schedule would help more.
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EasterJoy said:
It depends on the school. Go to them, talk to them.

The only close example I know is a family who moved into a very much smaller house in a less-affluent neighborhood and just slashed costs everywhere, because they were sending their children to Catholic high school. It’s tight for them, but lowering their mortgage was something they felt absolutely had to happen.
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I think that’s great advice. You never know. They may not be able to budge on it, but sometimes it’s worth the discomfort of asking through informal channels. My children have only gone to our parish school for preschool, but it was reiterated several times to please contact the school if tuition was a hardship, and they’d bend over backwards to try and make it work so the kids could go to school.
 
Our Catholic schools provide discounts to parents who are sending multiple children to school.
You might also speak to the principal about your options.
My parents did what you are seeking to do-mom entered the wage labor sector to make the difference. There tended to be two of us in high school at a time. We were very well prepared for college success and, despite being educated when religious curricula were weak, held on to our faith and, as adults, are reclaiming it. You might check textbooks to better determine whether brick and mortar or homeschooling curricula are stronger in your area.
There are several homeschooling Catholic curriculum options if your family prefers to have a parent in the home for a longer period of time, in some cases, the curriculum provides a running start situation to a catholic college (Holy Apostles) in Connecticut has such an arrangement with a homeschooling program. You might look into some of the programs at the link below.

I know parents who have used Seton Academy and Queen of Heaven Academy and are quite pleased.

It is helpful to know that you may access public schools while homeschooling to sign up for individual classes or programs.

List of some homeschooling options and their websites:

love2learn.net/hsinfo/currover.htm
 
Move to the Lincoln diocese. Pius X in lincoln is very affordable.
 
barhoram said:
Anyone else here have 4-5 children and put them through Catholic High School? How in the world did you do it? Was it worth having to have both parents work to afford it?

Our oldest daughter is in 8th grade now, and will be a Freshman next year. We have 5 kids, with 4 of them in Catholic Grade School Now. Tuition for all 4 of them is $14,000 a year. It is tight, but we make it work. My wife works 2 days a week, and that certainly helps, but we never wanted her to have to work full time. We also have some unusual circumstances as we live 25-30 mins away from their current school.

Tuition for her freshman year (at the school she is looking at that most of her class is going to) would be $12,000 + almost another $1,000 for computer fee and registration. So between the two will be close to $30,000 a year…and our second will be in high school in another 2 years…

We have applied for financial scholarships, but doesn’t look like we will get any. She did not score well on her placement test, and won’t receive any academic scholarship.

Anyone else deal with the same? What did you do? I’m worried at how she would do at our public school, and we both value what she has gained at Catholic school so far.

Any (name removed by moderator)ut appreciated.
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It really depends on your local situation. We have five ( soon to be six) kids and we homeschool. It would have been impossible to send them to catholic schools after the second child. Where we live there is no discount for multiples. However if you work for the diocese tuition is free. I know several parents who have done this. Also a job in the schools themselves results in free tuition, so if you can push a broom…
Where we used to live was much more friendly to catholic schools. For many families they were free and the schools were staffed by religious making them extremely affordable.
I went to pub school until high school and then went to a catholic high school that I lived but would never send my kids to.
Why is the catholic school so important to you? Is it the theological aspects? The academic?
 
How to afford Catholic High School with 5 kids?

Impossible, unless they have rich grandparents. I know a family of 7 who were helped by grandparents through 8th grade Catholic school. Catholic high school was OUT of the question. They applied for scholarships, tuition helps, etc. But eventually opted to put kids in public school and homeschool them in religious education. Irony is, most of the student body at the high school are not Catholic, just kids with rich parents. Sad.
 
It’s not necessarily impossible in this case; the OP is already paying grade school tuition for 5 and has a spouse spending two days in the waged labor sector. As the children move on to the more expensive high school, some of the tuition expense previously incurred may be applied to this situation and the spouse may opt to add to the number of days working in the waged labor market to further increase income.
Sacrifices may be made-fewer or less expesive vacations, less expensive cars, dropping cable-the O.P. hasn’t really described his or her lifestyle so this may or may not be applicable.
I know a family who sold their home and moved in with parents to keep their kids in Catholic schools-for them, it was a matter of priority.
Ultimately, our goal as parents is to get out kids to heaven and they determned that such an action was an important contribution to achieving that goal.
 
Former Catholic School employee here:

I always encourage people to put their children in the best public school they can, charter school, small private school, or Magnet school for grade school, and SAVE for Catholic High school. I worked in a Catholic grade school, and although we had some fabulous teachers, I cannot honestly say that the education was much different than their friends in public school.
It’s a myth to believe that all public school teachers are horrible. Their standards are WAY more rigorous . More checks and balances. By far.
If you educate your children WELL in the faith, as many do, supplement their religious ed with their parish programs, and live by Catholic example, your kids will survive in the real world.
The Catholic school bubble is either too small, or too elite, in our area. YMMV.
My children got all A’s and one went to college and made all A’s. But they still resent not going to a school with other kids like themselves: in other words, NOT RICH.

It was a constant source of drama. They didn’t get invited to things because they didn’t have unlimited spending money, no one ever wanted to come to our house, we didn’t live in an elite area. They never went on any Senior trips. They went to school, did well, and had friends. But as soon as they stepped off the school property? Crickets.

I hope and pray that your Catholic school experience has been better, will be better. Our area did not offer free tuition for teachers. I worked for the schools for 10 years, never once for free.

I will echo what someone said . CALL THEM. Ask. See what they offer. But I will tell you this, don’t enter into something you can’t keep up for all 5. They will resent it.
If you have raised your children well, if you are practicing Catholics, if they are involved in Church, if they have good friends with great parents, they will be fine. Millions of Catholic kids don’t go to Catholic school. And they’re still Catholic.

Good luck. I don’t envy your situation.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us!
 
For me, our grandparents provided our “scholarships” for a few years of Catholic school while we were living in poverty.

For my brother, he’s not able to afford tuition for his three kids. So his wife is homeschooling them. You can put together something of your own, or use a Catholic curriculum, or enroll in an online school. Kolbe, for example. St. Thomas Aquinas Academy. Angelicum Academy. And lots of others.

There are some dioceses (??) with parishes that strongly subsidize their schools. Find one. The Diocese of Wichita, for example, has 38 schools that are tuition-free for Catholic kids, but the flip side is that fundraising is a very big part of parish life there. The funds don’t just magically appear. So, if relocating to an area represents a savings of $30k-$45k in tuition… it might be a good move for the bigger picture.
 
pianistclare said:
Former Catholic School employee here:

I always encourage people to put their children in the best public school they can, charter school, small private school, or Magnet school for grade school, and SAVE for Catholic High school. I worked in a Catholic grade school, and although we had some fabulous teachers, I cannot honestly say that the education was much different than their friends in public school.
It’s a myth to believe that all public school teachers are horrible. Their standards are WAY more rigorous . More checks and balances. By far.
If you educate your children WELL in the faith, as many do, supplement their religious ed with their parish programs, and live by Catholic example, your kids will survive in the real world.
The Catholic school bubble is either too small, or too elite, in our area. YMMV.
My children got all A’s and one went to college and made all A’s. But they still resent not going to a school with other kids like themselves: in other words, NOT RICH.

It was a constant source of drama. They didn’t get invited to things because they didn’t have unlimited spending money, no one ever wanted to come to our house, we didn’t live in an elite area. They never went on any Senior trips. They went to school, did well, and had friends. But as soon as they stepped off the school property? Crickets.

I hope and pray that your Catholic school experience has been better, will be better. Our area did not offer free tuition for teachers. I worked for the schools for 10 years, never once for free.

I will echo what someone said . CALL THEM. Ask. See what they offer. But I will tell you this, don’t enter into something you can’t keep up for all 5. They will resent it.
If you have raised your children well, if you are practicing Catholics, if they are involved in Church, if they have good friends with great parents, they will be fine. Millions of Catholic kids don’t go to Catholic school. And they’re still Catholic.

Good luck. I don’t envy your situation.
St. Elizabeth Ann Steon, pray for us!
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Yes. Lots of times there are programs to help and even if not the school can work with you.
And public and charter schools in my area are not only ok, but some are better than the Catholic schools. If we didn’t homeschool our next option even if we could afford Catholic schools would be charter, then public, then a Protestant private school. All of which are great options. It is sad when we are supposed to be known for being generous with life that we don’t have an example on our own faith.
Here in my town there is a uniformed classical education Protestant private school oddly enough named st Ambrose that is very impressive. Thier tuition policy for multiple children reduces by fifty percent for each kid.
 
barhoram said:
Anyone else here have 4-5 children and put them through Catholic High School? How in the world did you do it? Was it worth having to have both parents work to afford it?

Our oldest daughter is in 8th grade now, and will be a Freshman next year. We have 5 kids, with 4 of them in Catholic Grade School Now. Tuition for all 4 of them is $14,000 a year. It is tight, but we make it work. My wife works 2 days a week, and that certainly helps, but we never wanted her to have to work full time. We also have some unusual circumstances as we live 25-30 mins away from their current school.

Tuition for her freshman year (at the school she is looking at that most of her class is going to) would be $12,000 + almost another $1,000 for computer fee and registration. So between the two will be close to $30,000 a year…and our second will be in high school in another 2 years…

We have applied for financial scholarships, but doesn’t look like we will get any. She did not score well on her placement test, and won’t receive any academic scholarship.

Anyone else deal with the same? What did you do? I’m worried at how she would do at our public school, and we both value what she has gained at Catholic school so far.

Any (name removed by moderator)ut appreciated.
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This is why 3 of mine have gone to public high school and why the 2 remaining in grade school will also attend public high school unless we were to inherit an unexpected windfall. We got them through K - 8 Catholic school which gave them a good foundation. I don’t know what the public schools are like in your area, but the one my kids have attended is ok and if the child is diligent offers a good education. My oldest was near the top of her class and received a very nice academic scholarship to the Catholic university here–a scholarship that made the cost just slightly more than a state school would have cost. The next two were not so academically inclined and I’m not sure that a Catholic high school would have made a difference.

That’s been my experience. We just couldn’t swing the cost of high school. My wife quit working just after my oldest’s freshman year at university–and it was a big adjustment for us (she was the big bread winner) but it turned out for the best and it’s been really good for the younger kids and recently after volunteering a lot at their parochial school she was offered a job aiding which has worked out well–some needed funds and benefits and the same hours as the kids.

Pray about it and ask God for guidance in the matter. It’s very difficult when you fall in that area where you’re not poor enough to get aid, but not rich enough to afford that kind of tuition.

The peace of Christ,
Mark
 
pianistclare said:
Former Catholic School employee here:

I always encourage people to put their children in the best public school they can, charter school, small private school, or Magnet school for grade school, and SAVE for Catholic High school. I worked in a Catholic grade school, and although we had some fabulous teachers, I cannot honestly say that the education was much different than their friends in public school.
It’s a myth to believe that all public school teachers are horrible. Their standards are WAY more rigorous . More checks and balances. By far.
If you educate your children WELL in the faith, as many do, supplement their religious ed with their parish programs, and live by Catholic example, your kids will survive in the real world.
The Catholic school bubble is either too small, or too elite, in our area. YMMV.
My children got all A’s and one went to college and made all A’s. But they still resent not going to a school with other kids like themselves: in other words, NOT RICH.

It was a constant source of drama. They didn’t get invited to things because they didn’t have unlimited spending money, no one ever wanted to come to our house, we didn’t live in an elite area. They never went on any Senior trips. They went to school, did well, and had friends. But as soon as they stepped off the school property? Crickets.

I hope and pray that your Catholic school experience has been better, will be better. Our area did not offer free tuition for teachers. I worked for the schools for 10 years, never once for free.

I will echo what someone said . CALL THEM. Ask. See what they offer. But I will tell you this, don’t enter into something you can’t keep up for all 5. They will resent it.
If you have raised your children well, if you are practicing Catholics, if they are involved in Church, if they have good friends with great parents, they will be fine. Millions of Catholic kids don’t go to Catholic school. And they’re still Catholic.

Good luck. I don’t envy your situation.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us!
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Excellent advice. If your aim is to strengthen the faith, a catholic school is not the only way. I don’t know how catholic schools in the US are, but I always hear negative things (the same amount of impurity, people resenting religion after they graduate etc ) so I guess don’t expect it to be completely different from public school. If you’re unlucky, the school could influence your child negatively. So if you really cannot manage, do not feel like you suck as a parent and try to think that maybe it’s a blessing.

That being said though, I hope you (OP) can manage it. I can’t help practically but I’ll pray for you
 
I’m not sure how it worked, but I know a large family in our parish put their children through Catholic high school using loan money in the same way they would have for college (not sure of the legal details - probably vary by area and what type of retirement plan/home situation one has). For them it felt like the right choice and they then expected each child to come up with their own way to pay for college (job, military, etc).

For us and our six kids we went the other route, choosing public school because it was better in some ways from the parish elementary and because it fed directly into the public high school making for a seamless transition for both academic and extra-curricular programs. We knew when our second one started kindergarten that we wouldn’t be able to afford to keep sending them all the way through the Catholic grade school and high school both so moved them over to public and sent the rest there as well. This allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom - actively caring and being involved in their lives, which (here at least) limited greatly the hours I could work, even once I started working again.

There is usually no transportation for various things - from academic team meets to before school study sessions, to choir competitions - so add in even just one activitiy per child with 2 to 5 drop-offs/pick-ups each at different times, and managing to work more would have been impossible.

It’s a tough decision and one you’ll have to make with the well-being of everyone in mind.

It’s one of those imperfect situations where choices have to be made and all you can do is make the best ones you can for you and your kids.
 
We can’t even afford the grade school tuition in our area for one kid. We’ll be homeschooling because the elementary school is poorly rated and has mandatory dual language immersion, and the elementary school we would likely get transferred to if we requested a transfer is a failing school. So unless we move somewhere where we can afford a decent school district, we will be homeschooling.

Every family is different, but if your wife is only working 2 days to pay for tuition, homeschooling might be the way to go. If it will work for you. I agree with the previous poster that you should not spend the money for private school for only one child. I know a family that is only paying for the boys’ college tuition because “boys need to go to college more than girls do.” I was completely blown away by this attitude. My friend almost had to drop out because they were saving the money for her brothers and she had a hard time finding a job to supplement her scholarships. Outrageous.
 
AClaire11 said:
We can’t even afford the grade school tuition in our area for one kid. We’ll be homeschooling because the elementary school is poorly rated and has mandatory dual language immersion, and the elementary school we would likely get transferred to if we requested a transfer is a failing school. So unless we move somewhere where we can afford a decent school district, we will be homeschooling.

Every family is different, but if your wife is only working 2 days to pay for tuition, homeschooling might be the way to go. If it will work for you. I agree with the previous poster that you should not spend the money for private school for only one child. I know a family that is only paying for the boys’ college tuition because “boys need to go to college more than girls do.” I was completely blown away by this attitude. My friend almost had to drop out because they were saving the money for her brothers and she had a hard time finding a job to supplement her scholarships. Outrageous.
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What’s your objection to the dual languages? Children readily learn a second language in early childhood. MUCH harder later in life, and bi-lingual people are highly sought in the workplace.
 
pianistclare said:
What’s your objection to the dual languages? Children readily learn a second language in early childhood. MUCH harder later in life, and bi-lingual people are highly sought in the workplace.
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This is a semi-myth. Adults have more vocabulary to learn, so it appears harder, but they just have more work to do than what constitutes fluency for a six year old. Adults can easily gain that much fluency in many foreign languages.

Mandatory and immersion programs in public school settings are not clearly shown to improve fluency in the foreign language, and if the language is Spanish, there is not much of a premium in the workplace for being bilingual.
 
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