Why does Catholic school cost so much?

[Corki]

In many dioceses there is a limit on how much a parish may contribute to its school. I know a parish that for years disobediently contributed more to its school than was allowed and in this way the school became one of the best Catholic schools in the region, quality and affordable, but obviously this disobedience was not right and has since been corrected, though the recent budget cuts and tuition increases are, I imagine, related to this cutback. And I hear the diocese may soon reduce the amount of funding a parish can give even more.

On the other hand there are such things as scholarships for parochial schools, and poorer families are often quietly given special reductions in the tuition.

In my area, none of the parishes contribute to the schools to my knowledge. In fact, the parish charges the school for things like using the parish hall. I don’t know if this is due to any rule or just the way the budgets have developed.

When my kids were in elementary school, it was about $5000 per year, per student. While that sounds high, it’s about half what our school disctict lists as the per person cost for a child in public school. Education is simply expensive these days, teachers aren’t well paid but their salaries are still better, comparatively, than they were in decades past. Teacher benefits and things like liability insurance are large expenses too.

Many of the Catholic elementary schools were built in the 50s (or even earlier) and have maintenance and repair expenses that should be expected for older buildings.

All of that being said, I don’t know anyone who could really not afford to send their children to the local Catholic school, at least up to 8th grade. Families with financial need can get scholarships and families who fall in the middle can offset some of the cost with volunteer opportunities. I** am not saying this is the case with the OP **but the only people who have complained to me that they can’t “afford” to send their kids to private school, don’t seem to have any trouble dropping a couple of thousand dollars on vacations, always drive new cars and have their kids in expensive activities. It’s all a matter of priorities.

 

[mgoforth]

Think about why Catholic schools used to be free, or nearly free decades ago. I bet a big part of it was that the vast majority of Catholics actually went to Mass each Sunday and therefore each parish had more money in offerings. I’ve heard the number of American Catholics who attend Mass weekly has declined by something like 9 million since the 1950s. So Mass attendance has declined and the “Catholic” population has grown. That equals less money in the parish budget to be used for more children. The extra money has to come from somewhere.

 

[Tighty_Whitey]

One could just as well ask, Why does Catholic school cost so little?

Chances are that the full cost of a single child’s education is likely more than the price you quoted and likely the school is being subsidized by the Church. There is finacial aid available, trust me, I know this from personal experience. This is an expensive world and costs are not going to go down. The price of energy, healthcare, salaries, maintenance, those new computers, etc. are all very expensive. I bet the actual cost is closer to $9,000 per student.

 

[CatholicTrekkie]

You also have to remember that, in many states, people have to pay both taxes and the Catholic school tuition. What I mean is that public education is paid for by the state, through taxes. In many states (speaking from the point of view of New Jersey), the state doesn’t refund the portion of your taxes that goes towards public education if you decide to send your child to a private school (most likely through a voucher program). So, essentially, parents have to pay for two educations, but only get one: pay for public education, and pay for a private education.

If you compare the cost of educating a child in public school to educating a child in a private Catholic school, they are essentially equal, and in some cases the Catholic education is substantially less (this is especially true in New Jersey, where we send astronomical amounts of money on each child to educate them, hence why we have sky-high property taxes).

Not sure what the situation is in other states, or if your state has a voucher program, but I’m speaking from my parents’ experience. They paid for both me and my brother to go through Catholic grade school (and high school for me). They sacrificed alot to give me and my brother that opportunity.

 

[armywife]

In many dioceses there is a limit on how much a parish may contribute to its school. I know a parish that for years disobediently contributed more to its school than was allowed and in this way the school became one of the best Catholic schools in the region, quality and affordable, but obviously this disobedience was not right and has since been corrected, though the recent budget cuts and tuition increases are, I imagine, related to this cutback. And I hear the diocese may soon reduce the amount of funding a parish can give even more.

This is so strange to me. Why would a diocese limit what a parish gives to their school? It could only improve and grow the school and as you said make it more affordable.

I mean, where else is the money going?

 

[EasterJoy]

You also have to remember that, in many states, people have to pay both taxes and the Catholic school tuition. What I mean is that public education is paid for by the state, through taxes. In many states (speaking from the point of view of New Jersey), the state doesn’t refund the portion of your taxes that goes towards public education if you decide to send your child to a private school (most likely through a voucher program). So, essentially, parents have to pay for two educations, but only get one: pay for public education, and pay for a private education.

If you compare the cost of educating a child in public school to educating a child in a private Catholic school, they are essentially equal, and in some cases the Catholic education is substantially less (this is especially true in New Jersey, where we send astronomical amounts of money on each child to educate them, hence why we have sky-high property taxes).

Not sure what the situation is in other states, or if your state has a voucher program, but I’m speaking from my parents’ experience. They paid for both me and my brother to go through Catholic grade school (and high school for me). They sacrificed alot to give me and my brother that opportunity.

Why would the state refund school money to parents who send their kids to private schools when they don’t give any refunds to people who have no children at all? It is nice if a state’s voters decide to provide vouchers as a way to give parents school choice, but justice does not require the state to do so. That is because all the citizens have a duty to educate all the children, whether any particular taxpayer is using the public school system or not.

Rant is very justified. The church tells us in canon law we are supposed to send our kids to schools that provide a Catholic education, and then does not hold up its end of the bargain by supplying schools which are truly Catholic and affordable. The former issue has greatly improved in most parishes, the latter gets worse and worse.

Where does canon law require every parish to supply a parish school?

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in parish schools and in keeping tuition as low as possible for Catholic schools, but this is not the only financial obligation the Church has. It is not as if there are a lot of Catholics out there kicking out a 10% tithe their gross to charity, let alone solely to the Church and her charitable works. (The most recent article estimating the typical Catholic contribution to their parish is 1.2%; another one reported that most Catholics give between $5 and $7 per week.)

IOW, I think the answer is that Catholic parents are asked to pay the lion’s share of the educational costs for their children because other Catholic donations are not there to make up the difference in the real cost of that education. It is as simple as that.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

This is so strange to me. Why would a diocese limit what a parish gives to their school? It could only improve and grow the school and as you said make it more affordable.

I mean, where else is the money going?

It’s going to other aspects of the Church’s life. People also whisper about the lawsuits, but I hope donated money is kept out of all that.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Seriously…K - 12 Catholic education costs way too much. In my large Texas city, the Catholic schools all seem to be around $6,500 or more per year. There seems to be a disconnect between what parishes practice and what they preach.

Catholic education is essentially unattainable for families who, faithful to Catholic teaching, avoided living in sin and married young, were prayerfully open to life and thereby had multiple children, and live on a single income, since one parent stays at home to care for young children. Unless the working parent has a very substantial, very reliable income, they won’t be able to send their kids to Catholic school. Why make Catholic education unattainable for families who practice what the Church teaches? Why the disconnect?

/end rant

It costs so much because… that’s how much it costs.

No, seriously, any schooling costs a lot more than you might think.

You don’t see how much it costs for public school but that is because it comes out of many different taxes on many different levels of government.

 

[hurting]

Most of the major driving factors have been covered by others already, but one of the issues at play is the fact that private schools must compete for teaching talent with public districts who have the advantage of public choice theory at their disposal (A relatively few very interested parties (school employees and less directly, parents of active students) with a lot to gain/lose with respect to funding leverage their influence relative to a much larger populace for whom the gain/loss is much more diffuse. This “other people’s money” (OPM) phenomenon leads to exceedingly inefficient societal resource allocation, particularly in the area of employee salaries that rachet ever higher and typically far in excess of private sector employees of comparable training.

The private schools in some respects must follow the public school lead in the salary escalation, although it is typically far more restrained and the salary differential between public and private, to say nothing of the total compensation chasm is of a magnitude that many would not believe at first glance.

As another poster said, private school tuition probably best approximates the true cost of a given quality level of education on an unsubsidized basis.

Take a look at what your local public district spends per student (and yes, you can isolate the impact of special education), and I think that you’ll find that your local private school typically spend between 1/2 and 2/3 as much per student.

 

[PaulinVA]

The average per pupil cost in the public sector is around $12,000. That includesf care for learning disabled students and other government mandates.

For $5,000 to $6,500, Catholic schools give a similar or better education. That’s 'a pretty good deal, and obviously no one is getting rich. Most Catholic schools around here are also supported monetarily by the associated parish, so the parents aren’t even paying the full price.

Education is expensive. There are no economies of scale. It costs the number of children you enroll times the cost per pupil to educate a family. If a discount is given, then someone else is making up that difference.

So Catholic education is expensive because education is expensive.

 

[SMHW]

I’m fairly certain that in California the cost per student at a typical Catholic school is far less than the amount spent per student on those in public school. While this may be no solace for parents, at the basic level Catholic education is usually a bargain compared to public education.

We all know that part of the reason the cost is higher today than in the past is increase in the proportion of lay teachers to religious.

Many existing schools are located in inner city location where there simply are not that many Catholics anymore. That means some of these existing schools and parishes are being closed. As a result some parishes consolidate and new parishes are built in suburban areas. These new parishes are often designed to accommodate much larger numbers than were the urban parishes. In both cases this can mean more competition for slots in schools. The Church is not immune to the law of supply and demand.

There is also the matter that the cost of building new schools is (adjusted for inflation) much higher than it once was due to land cost increases, more stringent building codes, and the sometimes thousands in dollars of building permits.

I would also point out that in the past it was not unusual to have 45 to 50 students in a class with one teacher and no aides. Most parents (and teachers) would not put up with such a classroom today.

 

[SeekNFind]

$6500 is not bad actually. Elite private schools cost as much as college tuition (some 30K a year)! The Catholic high school I attended is now over 5 figures a year to attend.

 

[SamH]

I would also point out that in the past it was not unusual to have 45 to 50 students in a class with one teacher and no aides. Most parents (and teachers) would not put up with such a classroom today.

Except at the college level with students paying $270 per credit hour.

 

[EasterJoy]

Except at the college level with students paying $270 per credit hour.

The level of personal attention an adult needs and that which a child needs are two different things, and so are the facilities.

 

[choose_to_love]

OK, so if a family has three kids school age kids, they are going to pay $18K per year? My diocese offers, as set forth above, a very minimal per child discount. In a very few years our family would have four in school at the same time. $24K per year just on tuition? Come on. There are posts that I recall here on CAF that there are parishes/dioceses where the Catholic schools charge a nominal fee. El Paso, maybe? Lincoln?

Anyway, I think while the type of teacher (i.e., not nuns/brothers) and the aforementioned lack of attendance at Mass and consequent income drop are definitely factors, it is at least partly due to the emphasis in the diocese. Many dioceses, I think, were poorly managed for years; after all, bishops are not, to my knowledge, generally trained in business administration. I think if a diocese is serious about providing low cost Catholic education, it can be done, but I also suspect that so many are in such precarious financial shape that it would take years to get back to square one, so to speak, so that resources could be allocated to make Catholic schools more affordable.

 

[manualman]

Catholic schools are dirt cheap!

The real question is “Why do PUBLIC schools cost so much?”

Around me, the public school system spends an overall average of $14,500 per student per year. Where do they get all that money? Taxpayers, which includes catholic school parents. What do we get for that tax money? Nothing. Then we have to go pay AGAIN for our private schools that somehow manage to provide a better educational outcome for less than 1/3 the cost of the public schools.

Wanna grouch about school costs? Grouch at the ones that are ACTUALLY fleecing you.

 

[EasterJoy]

Catholic schools are dirt cheap!

The real question is “Why do PUBLIC schools cost so much?”

Around me, the public school system spends an overall average of $14,500 per student per year. Where do they get all that money? Taxpayers, which includes catholic school parents. What do we get for that tax money? Nothing. Then we have to go pay AGAIN for our private schools that somehow manage to provide a better educational outcome for less than 1/3 the cost of the public schools.

Wanna grouch about school costs? Grouch at the ones that are ACTUALLY fleecing you.

Yes, well, the private schools can take who they want, while the public schools get to take what they get. I know there were not a few “problem children” bounced out of my private Catholic high school who became the problem of the neighboring public school the next Monday morning. Those students interfered with learning all out of proportion to their fraction of our student body. There is no doubt in my mind that my school would have had more difficulty achieving excellence if those students could not have been expelled as easily as they were. (We are not talking about criminals, but students who are “only” habitually disruptive, absent, tardy, or unprepared to participate in class.)

There are also many more mandates binding upon public schools that are not binding upon private schools, such as services for students who have learning issues…not just behavior issues, but dyslexia, deafness, blindness, Down Syndrome, borderline personalities, and so on.

Show me a private school that achieves more with all comers, including all parent groups, and with the terms laid down by educational policy makers, and I’ll hear what you’re saying. I don’t doubt that it can be done, but it is far harder than most of the “angry taxpayers” think. It is a very hard and unenviable task.

 

[liturgyluver]

In the UK it’s free to send your children to either Catholic or Church of England schools. All the running costs and 90% of the Capital costs are met by the government. There are a few private schools that charge fees but these are the minority.

 

[SMHW]

Catholic schools are dirt cheap!

The real question is “Why do PUBLIC schools cost so much?”
.
.
.
Wanna grouch about school costs? Grouch at the ones that are ACTUALLY fleecing you.

As my husband once said… public education is the only business where (a) the “manufacturer” boasts about the “product” costing more than that of the competition; and (b) the customers (students) are usually pleased when they get less (instruction) than what they are paying for.

Catholic schools may cost “a lot” but they are still extremely financially efficient.

My husband also researched and delivered a speech about how a private school could rent classroom space, provide each child with a laptop and a gym membership, and pay a teacher a nice salary for a significantly lessor cost than it takes for a public school to educate those same children.

 

[tafan]

The affordability issue is intertwined with the fact that most Catholic Schools do not have “free” teachers anymore… with the nuns of yester-year…

You can’t just blame the church for not “holding up it’s end of the bargain” if the floor falls out from under their feet, right?

It’s a complicated issue, indeed.

Sorry, I have been very closely involved in managing Catholic school financial matters, and I think I can blame the Church to a certain extent. I know that almost NO one in the catholic school system is even dreaming along the lines of widespread/universally available Catholic education. I know that most diocese and parishes believe that Catholic school funding should be primarily via tuition. They do not have a desire to donations to churches go towards the school. I could go on and on with detailed examples.

Oh, I understand the problem with teacher’s salaries, and I know it is difficult. But its a chicken and the egg problem. If you don’t give lots of kids a good Catholic education, you ain’t going to have many vocations.

It is a complicated issue, but that doesn’t really matter. The Church has a responsibility to provide Catholic schools to parents. There is no other way canon 798 can be fulfilled by parents. If you are going to tell parents they have to send their kids to Catholic schools (a canon I agree with, BTW), you have to provide the school.

Can. 798 Parents are to entrust their children to those schools which provide a Catholic education. If they are unable to do this, they are obliged to take care that suitable Catholic education is provided for their children outside the schools