Husband won't pay for Catholic high school

[Libbylove]

I am a devout catholic and have a strong desire to send my son to Catholic high school. My husband goes to Mass just to make me happy; his faith is minimal. He does not see the benefit of sending our son to a Catholic school and does not think we can afford it. He says he will only agree if I can come up with the tuition money on my own. Even though he thinks we can’t afford it, our income would probably be too high to qualify for very much “financial need” assitance. Does anyone know of any private organizations/donors that may help fund tuition? Or any other advice? This is so important to me!!!

 

[starlady]

Ask the high school or the diocese or Catholic Schools office (if there is one, normally there is). I work for the Catholic Schools office in my diocese and while most of the high schools operate individually and each has their own way of handling financial aid, if a family and the student really want to attend their school, they are usually really open to working with the family to negotiate a tuition plan. I realize not all schools manage their funds in this way, but I would get more info from the school and/or diocese before ruling it out due to income.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

Perhaps they might offer a lower tuition of your child is willing to work part time for the school. My wife went to a Catholic Boarding school and part of her weekly duties included working the phone switchboard and a few tasks in the kitchen.

I’m not sure how practical that may be more a days. Perhaps if your child has specific talents he can demonstrate that help or expand some aspect of school operations that can help too. If he is good with computers maybe he can assist with the computer lab. Maybe he hunts/fishes/ has camping skills? Maybe he is proficient in a musical instrument and can teach others? Be creative

 

[JetteZ]

There is typically a Catholic family discount (for us it’s $1,000 for being active parishioners); your school may have other financial options, too; so, like the poster above said, talking to them is going to be your best bet to figuring out if Catholic school is affordable.

That said, private school tuition is a big financial obligation. You’ve explained this being important to you but you haven’t really mentioned why. It’s not important for me to know but an honest discussion on why you feel this financial sacrifice is warranted would be really important. You also really need to look at it from your husband’s perspective. Can your budget handle the expense along with your current financial obligations, wants, and goals?

 

[Trishie]

May God grant the best outcome to this situation.
My husband refused to pay for Catholic primary level, but he did change his mind and pay for our children’s secondary education.
Perhaps you husband my also change his mind with time.

 

[Katie777]

Your son should take the entrance exam too. If he scores high and has good grades, partial and full scholarships may be available. You can ask the high school.

If your son has alot of involvement in service in your community, that also will help.

 

[TheLittleLady]

Scholarships, an after-school/summer job to earn money for tuition, these things may demonstrate to both the school and to your husband how important this education is to your son.

 

[Rosalie]

If you are a stay at home mom, maybe you could see if you could work at the school? My friend’s mother worked at her parish school as a secretary to get her kids free tuition.

 

[masuwerte1]

Maybe you should consider the possibility that your husband might be right. Does he usually make the financial decisions in the family? He might be wrong, maybe you can afford it, but you should at least consider his opinion.

 

[Xantippe]

Maybe you should consider the possibility that your husband might be right. Does he usually make the financial decisions in the family? He might be wrong, maybe you can afford it, but you should at least consider his opinion.

Yeah, that’s definitely a possibility.

We have 2.6 kids in private school. It started out very innocently–one kid in kindergarten at a smidge under $5k a year, but 10 years later, with one 10th grader, one 7th grader, and one 3-day pre-k kid, things have gotten out of hand. Husband and I were sweating over the budget last night, realizing that (especially since we bought our first house and started saving for college), our emergency fund has been steadily eroding to the point where there will be nothing left in a few months. If I can make a little money soon, we’ll be OK, but we’re looking at up to 2.5 rough years.

Have you done a detailed budget showing how this would work?

 

[Harmony]

This is a good point. For example, colleges take parents’ income into account, and not that the parents were paying for anything out of the ordinary, so if the school is pricey, your husband may have already planned to set that money aside for college, which is way more expensive than it seems when you look at tuition prices.

 

[Clementine14]

Tuition for the Catholic high school I attended is currently almost $14,000 per year. This is over $10,000 more than it was when I started high school about 20 years ago. I would love for our son to go there- I got a great education and it certainly helped me to form my faith as a teenager. It is a wonderful school and my parents made extraordinary sacrifices so that I could attend. However, it is highly unlikely that we will ever be able to afford it, even when I go from part-time to full-time employment. It is unfortunate, but that’s how it is. I am sure my husband will feel the same as yours when the time comes.

You mentioned that your husband would be okay with it if you could earn enough for tuition on your own. Is there a way you can do that? Do you work outside the home now? If not, could you find employment that would cover the tuition amount? Others have mentioned working for the school and asking what portion, if any, your parish might contribute. You might also contact the financial aid office at the school just to see whether they have any merit-based scholarships, if you don’t think you will qualify based on need.